Wireless system, wireless device, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein communication program, and communication method

ABSTRACT

A communication system as an example of an exemplary embodiment includes two mobile terminals and two BLE terminals. The mobile terminals establish connections with the BLE terminals. Specifically, one of the mobile terminals and one of the BLE terminals are connected together such that the mobile terminal is a central and the BLE terminal is a peripheral. The BLE terminal connected as a peripheral repeatedly executes advertising and a scan, thereby exchanging application data with the other BLE terminal connected as a peripheral.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 15/222,992 filed on Jul. 29, 2016, which claims benefit of JapanesePatent Application No. 2015-152749, filed on Jul. 31, 2015, and JapanesePatent Application No. 2016-010986, filed on Jan. 22, 2016, the contentsof which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The technology disclosed here relates to a wireless system, a wirelessdevice, a communication program, and a communication method that arecapable of communicating with a plurality of devices.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY

Conventionally, there is a device for performing wireless communicationat a short distance. For example, in communication based on theBluetooth (registered trademark) standard, a certain device as a masterand another device as a slave form a single network and communicate witheach other.

In the conventional wireless communication, however, there is room forimprovement in the communication of a device in the state of beingconnected to a certain device, with various devices.

Therefore, it is an object of an exemplary embodiment to provide atechnique for communicating with various devices.

To achieve the above object, the exemplary embodiment employs thefollowing configurations.

A first configuration is a wireless system including a plurality ofdevices capable of performing wireless communication. A first deviceamong the plurality of devices executes: an acquisition process foracquiring a single piece of application data for an application; and atransmission process for wirelessly transmitting a broadcast ormulticast packet that can be used for a connection with another device.The first device in the transmission process divides the applicationdata, separately transmits the pieces of divided application data in aplurality of broadcast or multicast packets, and also transmits firstinformation by including the first information in the broadcast ormulticast packets, the first information indicating which parts of theapplication data are the pieces of divided data included in thebroadcast or multicast packets, and transmits second information byincluding the second information in the broadcast or multicast packets,the second information indicating whether or not the broadcast ormulticast packets are packets for a connection with another device.

Based on the above, a first device can transmit application data using abroadcast or multicast packet that can be used for a connection withanother device. Further, the first device can divide the applicationdata and transmit the pieces of divided application data in a pluralityof packets. This makes it possible to transmit a larger amount of data.

Here, “broadcast” includes broadcast to unspecified devices (all devicesin the range where communication can be performed) and broadcast tolimited unspecified devices. A “limited unspecified device” is a devicethat is not uniquely specified (a unique address assigned to the deviceis not specified), but has a common attribute or is in a common state.

A second configuration is a wireless system including a plurality ofdevices capable of performing wireless communication. A first deviceamong the plurality of devices executes: an acquisition process foracquiring a single piece of application data for an application; atransmission process for wirelessly transmitting a broadcast ormulticast packet; and a reception process for wirelessly receiving abroadcast or multicast packet from another device. Further, the firstdevice repeatedly executes the transmission process and the receptionprocess; and in the transmission process, divides the application data,separately transmits the pieces of divided application data in aplurality of broadcast or multicast packets, and also transmits firstinformation by including the first information in the broadcast ormulticast packets, the first information indicating which parts of theapplication data are the pieces of divided data included in thebroadcast or multicast packets.

Based on the above, a first device can divide application data andtransmit the pieces of divided application data in a plurality ofpackets. This makes it possible to transmit a larger amount of data.

In the first and second configurations, the first device may furtherexecute a reception process for wirelessly receiving a broadcast ormulticast packet from another device, and may repeatedly execute thetransmission process and the reception process.

Based on the above, a transmission process and a reception process arerepeated, whereby it is possible to transmit application data to anotherdevice and also receive data from another device.

In the first and second configurations, at least one of an executionperiod of the transmission process, timing for executing thetransmission process, an execution period of the reception process, andtiming for executing the reception process may be variable.

In the first and second configurations, at least one of the executionperiod of the transmission process, the timing for executing thetransmission process, the execution period of the reception process, andthe timing for executing the reception process may be randomly set.

Based on the above, a transmission process and a reception process arerepeatedly performed, whereby it is possible to, for example, between adevice and another device, match transmission timing of one device andreception timing of the other device.

In the first and second configurations, the first device may alternatelyand repeatedly execute the transmission process and the receptionprocess. In the case where “the transmission process and the receptionprocess are alternately and repeatedly executed”, the transmissionprocess and the reception process may be alternately performed with astopping period provided between the transmission process and thereception process.

Based on the above, for example, it is possible to shorten the time fromtransmission timing of one device to reception timing of the otherdevice.

In the first and second configurations, a sleep period in which neitherthe transmission process nor the reception process is performed may bepresent at least between the transmission process and the receptionprocess, between the transmission process and the transmission process,or between the reception process and the reception process.

Based on the above, a sleep period is provided in which neither thetransmission process nor the reception process is performed. Thus, it ispossible to reduce power consumption.

In the first and second configurations, the sleep period may bevariable.

In the first and second configurations, the sleep period may be randomlyset.

Based on the above, the transmission process and the reception processare repeatedly performed, whereby it is possible to, for example, matchtransmission timing of a device and reception timing of another device.

In the first and second configurations, the wireless system may includea second device. The first device and the second device may establish aconnection with each other and perform wireless communication with eachother. In the transmission process, the first device in the state ofbeing connected to the second device may transmit the plurality ofbroadcast or multicast packets.

Based on the above, the first device in the state of being connected toa second device can transmit application data to another device bybroadcast or multicast.

In the first and second configurations, the connection may beestablished between the first device and the second device such that thesecond device is a master and the first device is a slave, and in thetransmission process, the first device in the state of being connectedas a slave to the second device may transmit the broadcast or multicastpackets.

Based on the above, the first device connected as a slave to the seconddevice can transmit application data to another device by broadcast.

In the second configuration, the wireless system may include a seconddevice. The first device and the second device may establish aconnection with each other and may perform wireless communication witheach other. The first device in the state of being connected to thesecond device may execute the transmission process and/or the receptionprocess. Further, the connection may be established between the firstdevice and the second device such that the second device is a master andthe first device is a slave, and the first device in the state of beingconnected as a slave to the second device may execute the transmissionprocess and/or the reception process.

In the first and second configurations, the first device and the seconddevice may establish a connection with each other and then mayrepeatedly perform synchronous communication with each other. In thetransmission process, the first device may transmit the plurality ofbroadcast or multicast packets in a period except for timing when thefirst device performs synchronous communication with the second device.

Based on the above, the first device can perform synchronouscommunication with the second device and also transmit data to anotherdevice.

In the first and second configurations, the wireless system may includea third device and a fourth device. The third device and the fourthdevice may establish a connection with each other and then mayrepeatedly perform synchronous communication with each other. In aperiod except for timing when the fourth device performs synchronouscommunication with the third device, the fourth device may receive aplurality of broadcast or multicast packets transmitted by thetransmission process of the first device.

Based on the above, the first device can communicate with the fourthdevice connected to the third device.

In the first and second configurations, the wireless system may furtherexecute an adjustment process for adjusting at least either one oftiming of the synchronous communication between the first device and thesecond device and timing of the synchronous communication between thethird device and the fourth device.

Based on the above, it is possible to adjust the timing of synchronouscommunication between the first device and the second device and thetiming of synchronous communication between the third device and thefourth device. Thus, it is possible to improve the efficiency ofcommunication.

In the first and second configurations, the first device may execute theadjustment process.

Based on the above, the first device can adjust the timing of thesynchronous communication.

In the first and second configurations, in the adjustment process, thetiming of the synchronous communication between the first device and thesecond device and the timing of the synchronous communication betweenthe third device and the fourth device may be adjusted to be close toeach other.

Based on the above, it is possible to match the timing of thesynchronous communication between the first device and the second deviceand the timing of the synchronous communication between the third deviceand the fourth device. For example, the first device and the fourthdevice can efficiently communicate with each other.

In the first and second configurations, in the transmission process, thefirst device may transmit the plurality of broadcast or multicastpackets without an instruction from the second device.

Based on the above, the first device can communicate with another devicewithout an instruction from the second device.

In the first and second configurations, the second device may establisha connection with the first device and then may repeatedly execute atransmission process for transmitting data and/or a reception processfor receiving data at a predetermined time interval.

Based on the above, the first device can communicate with the seconddevice at a predetermined time interval.

In the first and second configurations, the first device may communicatewith the second device in time with a single round of processing in thetransmission process and/or the reception process executed multipletimes by the first device in a predetermined period.

Based on the above, the first device communicates with the second deviceonly once in a predetermined period. Thus, it is possible to reducepower consumption.

In the first configuration, the first device may execute a receptionprocess for wirelessly receiving a broadcast or multicast packet attiming different from timing of the transmission process, and mayrepeatedly execute the transmission process and the reception process.In the transmission process, the first device may transmit timinginformation by including the timing information in the broadcast ormulticast packet, the timing information indicating timing of thetransmission process and/or the reception process to be executed by thefirst device next time or later.

Based on the above, the first device can notify another device of thetiming of a transmission process and/or a reception process to beperformed by the first device next time or later.

In the second configuration, in the transmission process, the firstdevice may transmit timing information by including the timinginformation in the broadcast or multicast packet, the timing informationindicating timing of the transmission process or the reception processto be executed next time or later.

Based on the above, the first device can notify another device of thetiming of a transmission process and/or a reception process to beperformed by the first device next time or later.

In the first and second configurations, the wireless system may includea third device. The third device may repeatedly execute a transmissionprocess for wirelessly transmitting a broadcast or multicast packet anda reception process for wirelessly receiving a broadcast or multicastpacket, and based on the timing information from the first device, mayadjust timing for executing the transmission process and/or thereception process.

Based on the above, based on the timing information from the firstdevice, the third device can adjust the timing for performing atransmission process and/or a reception process.

In the first and second configurations, the application data may be datafor specifying a content that can be used in an application.

Based on the above, the first device can transmit data for specifying acontent.

In the first and second configurations, the application data may be datathat can be used in a game.

Based on the above, the first device can transmit data that can be usedin a game.

In the first and second configurations, the wireless system may includea third device. The third device may execute a reception process and adata reconstruction process. In the reception process, the third devicereceives a plurality of broadcast or multicast packets transmitted bythe transmission process of the first device. In the data reconstructionprocess, based on the first information and based on the plurality ofbroadcast or multicast packets received in the reception process, thethird device acquires the plurality of pieces of divided data andreconstructs the application data using the plurality of pieces ofdivided data. The third device performs an application process based onthe application data reconstructed by the data reconstruction process.

Based on the above, the third device can receive a plurality ofbroadcast or multicast packets from the first device, therebyreconstructing application data, and perform predetermined processingusing the application data.

In the first and second configurations, the device may perform wirelesscommunication while switching a frequency of a radio wave.

In the first and second configurations, the device may perform wirelesscommunication while switching between a plurality of predetermineddifferent frequencies.

In the first and second configurations, in the transmission process, thebroadcast or multicast packet may be transmitted while switching betweenthree channels.

In the first and second configurations, a standard for the wirelesscommunication may be Bluetooth Low Energy.

In the first and second configurations, a frequency band of wirelesscommunication performed by the wireless device may be the 2.4 GHz band.

Another configuration may be a wireless system including a plurality ofdevices capable of performing wireless communication based on theBluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standard. A first device among the pluralityof devices may execute: an acquisition process for acquiring a singlepiece of application data for an application; and a transmission processfor wirelessly transmitting an advertising packet. The first device inthe transmission process may divide the application data, may separatelytransmit the pieces of divided application data in a plurality ofadvertising packets, and may also transmit first information byincluding the first information in the advertising packets, the firstinformation indicating which parts of the application data are thepieces of divided data included in the advertising packets, and maytransmit second information by including the second information in theadvertising packets, the second information indicating whether or notthe advertising packets are packets for a connection with anotherdevice.

Another configuration may be a wireless system including a plurality ofdevices capable of performing wireless communication based on theBluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standard. A first device among the pluralityof devices may execute: an acquisition process for acquiring a singlepiece of application data for an application; a transmission process forwirelessly transmitting an advertising packet; and a reception processfor wirelessly receiving an advertising packet from another device.Further, the first device may repeatedly execute the transmissionprocess and the reception process. Further, the first device in thetransmission process may divide the application data, may separatelytransmit the pieces of divided application data in a plurality ofadvertising packets, and may also transmit first information byincluding the first information in the advertising packets, the firstinformation indicating which parts of the application data are thepieces of divided data included in the advertising packets.

Based on the above, a first device can transmit application data of arelatively large size in communication based on the BLE standard, usingan advertising packet.

Another configuration may be a wireless device capable of performingwireless communication. The wireless device may execute: an acquisitionprocess for acquiring a single piece of application data for anapplication; and a transmission process for wirelessly transmitting abroadcast or multicast packet that can be used for a connection withanother device. The wireless device in the transmission process maydivide the application data, may separately transmit the pieces ofdivided application data in a plurality of broadcast or multicastpackets, and may also transmit first information by including the firstinformation in the broadcast or multicast packets, the first informationindicating which parts of the application data are the pieces of divideddata included in the broadcast or multicast packets, and may transmitsecond information by including the second information in the broadcastor multicast packets, the second information indicating whether or notthe broadcast or multicast packets are packets for a connection withanother device.

Another configuration may be a wireless device capable of performingwireless communication. The wireless device may execute: an acquisitionprocess for acquiring a single piece of application data for anapplication; a transmission process for wirelessly transmitting abroadcast or multicast packet; and a reception process for wirelesslyreceiving a broadcast or multicast packet from another device. Thewireless device repeatedly executes the transmission process and thereception process. The wireless device in the transmission process maydivide the application data, may separately transmit the pieces ofdivided application data in a plurality of broadcast or multicastpackets, and may also transmit first information by including the firstinformation in the broadcast or multicast packets, the first informationindicating which parts of the application data are the pieces of divideddata included in the broadcast or multicast packets.

Another configuration may be a wireless system including a plurality ofdevices capable of performing wireless communication. A first deviceamong the plurality of devices may execute: an acquisition process foracquiring a single piece of application data for an application; and atransmission process for wirelessly transmitting a broadcast ormulticast packet to another device. The first device in the transmissionprocess divides the application data, separately transmits the pieces ofdivided application data in a plurality of broadcast or multicastpackets, and also transmits first information by including the firstinformation in the broadcast or multicast packets, the first informationindicating which parts of the application data are the pieces of divideddata included in the broadcast or multicast packets.

Another configuration may be a wireless communications devicecomprising:

a wireless radio transceiver, and

a processor operatively coupled to the wireless radio transceiver, theprocessor configured to control the wireless communications device to:

wirelessly broadcast or multicast a connection packet,

acquire application data,

divide the application data into plural portions, and

wirelessly broadcast or multicast each portion of the dividedapplication data in a respective broadcast or multicast packet, eachrespective broadcast or multicast packet including: (a) informationidentifying a part of the application data, and (b) informationindicating whether the packet is a connection packet.

In the above configuration, the information identifying a part of theapplication comprises a sequence number.

Another configuration may be a program to be executed by a processor ofthe wireless device. Further, another configuration may be acommunication method to be executed by the wireless system or thewireless device.

According to the exemplary embodiment, it is possible to communicatewith various devices using a broadcast packet.

These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of theexemplary embodiments will become more apparent from the followingdetailed description of the exemplary embodiments when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a general BLE network;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internalconfiguration of a BLE terminal 20;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a list of channels used in the BLE standard;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of communication inthe period from the state where a mobile terminal 10 a and a BLEterminal 20 a are not connected together to the state where the mobileterminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a are connected together;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of communication between themobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a in a connection state;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing examples of communication in a connectionstate after a connection between the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLEterminal 20 a is established;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the connection form of the BLEnetwork according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the case where the BLEterminal 20 a and a BLE terminal 20 b communicate with each other in thestate of not being connected together;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the state where the execution periods of ascan and advertising to be executed by the BLE terminal 20 change;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a method in which one of the BLEterminals 20 transmits information indicating the execution timing of ascan and/or advertising, thereby adjusting the execution timing of ascan and/or advertising;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the state where the connections betweenmobile terminals 10 (centrals) and the BLE terminals 20 (peripherals)are adjusted;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state after FIG. 11, and is a diagramshowing an example of the communication between the devices after theconnections between the mobile terminals 10 (centrals) and the BLEterminals 20 (peripherals) are adjusted;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the state where, when themobile terminals 10 and the BLE terminals 20 are connected together, theBLE terminals 20 establish a connection with each other;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a state after FIG. 13, and is a diagramshowing an example of communication in the state where the BLE terminal20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b are connected together;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a specific example of the method forrestricting communication between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLEterminal 20 b;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of communication in the casewhere, when the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b areconnected together, the connections between the mobile terminals 10 andthe BLE terminals 20 are adjusted;

FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing an example of the processing performedby the mobile terminal 10;

FIG. 18 is a detailed flow chart of step S108 in FIG. 17; FIG. 19 is aflow chart showing an example of the processing performed by the BLEterminal 20 a;

FIG. 20 is a detailed flow chart of a during-connection process in stepS205;

FIG. 21 is a detailed flow chart of a BLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminalcommunication process in step S218;

FIG. 22 is a detailed flow chart of aduring-BLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminal-connection process in step S239, andis a diagram showing the processing performed by the BLE terminal 20 a,which operates as a central (a master); and

FIG. 23 is a detailed flow chart of theduring-BLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminal-connection process in step S239, andis a diagram showing the processing performed by the BLE terminal 20 b,which operates as a peripheral (a slave).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF NON-LIMITING EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

With reference to the drawings, a wireless communication systemaccording to an exemplary embodiment is described below. The wirelesscommunication system according to the exemplary embodiment is a systemincluding a plurality of devices capable of performing wirelesscommunication, and each device performs communication based on, forexample, the Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth 4.x, hereinafterabbreviated as “BLE”) standard. First, an overview of the BLE standardis described.

(Overview of BLE)

The BLE standard is a communication standard designed so that powerconsumption is lower than that in classic Bluetooth (registeredtrademark) (Ver.1.x-3.x). In BLE, the maximum transmission power is madesmaller than that in classic Bluetooth, and the operating time ofwireless communication and the number of operations are made smallerthan those in classic Bluetooth, thereby reducing power consumption. InBLE, the time interval of communication is longer than that in classicBluetooth, and this time interval can be changed. Further, similarly toclassic Bluetooth, BLE employs a star network topology in which aplurality of slaves can connect to a single master.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a general BLE network. Asshown in FIG. 1, in the range where communication can be performed, amobile terminal 10 a and a BLE terminal 20 are present and form anetwork. In BLE, the range where communication can be performed is, forexample, several to several tens of meters.

The mobile terminal 10 a is, for example, a mobile informationprocessing apparatus capable of executing a predetermined application,such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal. The mobileterminal 10 a includes, for example, a CPU (or/and another processor), aRAM, a storage device (a non-volatile memory, a hard disk, or the like),a display device (a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL displaydevice, or the like), an input section (a button, a touch panel, or thelike), a BLE communication module for performing communication based onthe BLE standard, and a battery. The CPU of the mobile terminal 10 a canexecute various application programs stored in the storage device (oracquired via the network). For example, the mobile terminal 10 a canexecute, as a predetermined application, various application programssuch as an application capable of reproducing a moving image and a stillimage, a message application, a browser application, a game application,and an application for processing data acquired from the BLE terminal20. The mobile terminal 10 a can perform information processing moreadvanced than that of the BLE terminal 20, and therefore has powerconsumption higher than that of the BLE terminal 20.

The BLE terminal 20 is, for example, a mobile device and is typically adevice smaller than the mobile terminal 10 a. Typically, the BLEterminal 20 may only have a function more limited than that of themobile terminal 10, and may be a device for performing relatively simpleprocessing. It should be noted that the BLE terminal 20 may be a devicefor performing advanced information processing similar to that of themobile terminal 10 a.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internalconfiguration of the BLE terminal 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the BLEterminal 20 includes, for example, a control circuit 21, an inputsection 22, a light-emitting section 23, a vibrator 24, and a BLEcommunication module 25. The BLE terminal 20 is a relatively smallmobile device and is a device having low power consumption. For example,the BLE terminal 20 can operate for a relatively long period (severalmonths to several years) by a button cell. The components of the BLEterminal 20 may be implemented on the control circuit 21. For example,the BLE terminal 20 can transmit data corresponding to an input providedto the input section 22 to the mobile terminal 10 a, using the BLEcommunication module 25, can receive data transmitted from the mobileterminal 10 a, using the BLE communication module 25, to cause thelight-emitting section 23 to emit light, and can vibrate the vibrator24. It should be noted that the BLE terminal 20 may include a CPU or/andanother processor for executing any application program. Further, theBLE terminal 20 may include a display, a touch panel, a loudspeaker, amicrophone, a camera, and the like. For example, the BLE terminal 20 mayexchange data according to an image and a sound with the mobile terminal10 a via the BLE communication module 25.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile terminal 10 a functions as a central(referred to also as a “master”) in the BLE network, and the BLEterminal 20 functions as a peripheral (referred to also as a “slave”).The mobile terminal 10 a can establish connections with a plurality ofBLE terminals 20 (20 a, . . . , 20 x) and serves as a central in eachconnection. A central manages the participation of a peripheral in thenetwork and sets various parameters in the connection with a peripheral.

Here, in the BLE standard, radio waves in the 2.4 GHz band are used.Specifically, communication is performed using 40 channels. FIG. 3 is adiagram showing a list of channels used in the BLE standard. As shown inFIG. 3, among the 40 channels, three channels 37 to 39 are advertisingchannels, and the other channels 0 to 36 are data channels. Anadvertising channel is a channel used to find or connect a device, orused to notify another device of the presence of the device itself, orused to exchange data without establishing a connection with anotherdevice as described later. A data channel is a channel used in aconnection state (the state of being connected) and is used by twodevices in a connection state to transmit and receive data to and fromeach other. It should be noted that in classic Bluetooth, 79 channelsare included, and 32 channels among the 79 channels are channels forfinding.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of communication inthe period from the state where the mobile terminal 10 a and a BLEterminal 20 a are not connected together to the state where the mobileterminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a are connected together.

Each device changes its state in the period from the state of not beingconnected (a non-connection state) to a connection state. Specifically,as shown in FIG. 4, the mobile terminal 10 a repeats a scan at apredetermined time interval. The state of performing a scan is referredto as a “scanning state”, and the device in this state is referred to asa “scanner”. Specifically, the mobile terminal 10 a repeats a scan and astopping state, and during the execution of a scan, causes a receptioncircuit to operate, thereby attempting to receive an advertising packet(an advertising PDU (protocol data unit)) from another device.

Meanwhile, the BLE terminal 20 a repeats advertising at a predeterminedtime interval (an advertising interval). The state of performingadvertising is referred to as an “advertising state”, and the device inthis state is referred to as an “advertiser”. Specifically, in a singleround of advertising (a single advertising event), the BLE terminal 20 atransmits an advertising packet while switching between the threechannels 37 to 39. As described above, an advertising packet istransmitted by switching the frequencies of radio waves. The switchingof the frequencies of radio waves is referred to as “hopping”.

As shown in FIG. 4, if the timing of a scan of the mobile terminal 10 aand the timing of advertising of the BLE terminal 20 a coincide witheach other, the mobile terminal 10 a receives an advertising packet fromthe BLE terminal 20 a. If receiving the advertising packet from the BLEterminal 20 a, the mobile terminal 10 a transmits a scan request to theBLE terminal 20 a. In response to the scan request, the BLE terminal 20a returns a scan response. The scan request and the scan response arealso transmitted using the advertising channels. The method of a scanincludes an “active scan” and a “passive scan”, and FIG. 4 shows anexample of the “active scan”. In the “passive scan”, a “scan request”and a “scan response” that are shown in FIG. 4 are not made. That is, inthe passive scan, if receiving the advertising packet from the BLEterminal 20 a, the mobile terminal 10 a transmits a connection requestto the BLE terminal 20 a without transmitting a scan request.

To connect to a device having transmitted an advertising packet, themobile terminal 10 a enters an initiating state (an initiator). Themobile terminal 10 a (the initiator) transmits a connection request tothe BLE terminal 20 a having transmitted the advertising packet. If theinitiator transmits the connection request, a connection is established,and the two devices enter a connection state. Specifically, the twodevices including the mobile terminal 10 a as a master (a central) andthe BLE terminal 20 a as a slave (a peripheral) enter a connectionstate.

It should be noted that the connection request from the initiatorincludes a plurality of parameters for a connection. Specifically, theconnection request includes the address of the initiator, the address ofthe advertiser, an access address, a connection interval, slave latency,information about hopping after that (the number of hops and informationabout the channels to be used), a connection supervision timeout, andthe like. The access address is randomly determined to identify theconnection. To transmit a packet to a connection partner, each devicetransmits the packet including this access address. Based on the accessaddress, each device can determine whether or not the packet is from aconnection partner. Further, the connection interval, the slave latency,and the connection supervision timeout will be described later. Further,after the connection request is made, pairing and bonding for exchangingcryptographic keys in the connection may be performed. In the pairing, atemporary cryptographic key for use in this connection is generated andexchanged. In the bonding, a permanent cryptographic key is generatedand exchanged after the pairing. The permanent cryptographic key isstored in a non-volatile memory or the like in each device.

Normally, an advertising packet is transmitted by broadcast. That is, anunspecified device can receive the advertising packet. It should benoted that “broadcast” also includes data transmission that can beprocessed by limited unspecified devices. Here, the “limited unspecifieddevices” refers to a device that is not uniquely specified (a uniqueaddress assigned to the device is not specified), but has a commonattribute or is in a common state. The “device having a commonattribute” refers to, for example, a group of devices having apredetermined attribute such as the same model or the same vendor. Totransmit an advertising packet to a device having such a predeterminedattribute, for example, a device at the transmitting end transmits theadvertising packet by including (or adding) information indicating avendor or the model of a terminal (a vendor ID, a model number, or thelike; hereinafter referred to as “attribute information”) in (to) theadvertising packet. If attribute information of a device at thereceiving end matches the transmitted attribute information, the deviceat the receiving end processes the advertising packet. As describedabove, at the transmitting end, it is possible to transmit data to alimited unspecified device. On the other hand, the “device in a commonstate” refers to a group of devices in a predetermined state at acertain time, such as having the same current setting. For example, inan advertising packet to be transmitted, a flag indicating that theadvertising packet can be processed only by a limited unspecified deviceis set to on. At the receiving end, the setting of whether or not toprocess this advertising packet for a limited unspecified device ismade. A device that is set to process the advertising packet for anunspecified device receives the advertising packet and determineswhether or not the above flag is set to on. If the flag is set to on,the device processes the advertising packet. On the other hand, a devicethat is not set to process the advertising packet for an unspecifieddevice receives the advertising packet and determines whether or not theabove flag is set to on. If the flag is set to on, the device discardsthe packet or does not process the packet. As described above, at thetransmitting end, it is possible to transmit data to a limitedunspecified device. Such transmission to “limited unspecified devices”and transmission to unlimited unspecified devices are both referred toas “broadcast” here. It should be noted that an advertising packet maybe transmitted by so-called “multicast”.

In addition, an advertising packet has a plurality of types.Specifically, the types of advertising packets include “ADV_IND”,“ADV_DIRECT IND”, “ADV_NONCONN_IND”, and “ADV_SCAN_IND”. “ADV_IND” and“ADV_DIRECT_IND” are advertising packets indicating that a connection ispossible. “ADV_IND” is used for normal advertising and is an advertisingpacket indicating that an unspecified device can be connected. Further,“ADV_DIRECT_IND” is an advertising packet indicating that a particulardevice can be connected, and is used to connect at high speed to adevice that has previously been connected. If receiving an advertisingpacket “ADV_IND” or “ADV_DIRECT_IND”, the mobile terminal 10 a transmitsthe above connection request to the BLE terminal 20 a having transmittedthe packet.

In addition, “ADV_NONCONN_IND” and “ADV_SCAN_IND” are advertisingpackets indicating that a connection is not possible. “ADV_NONCONN_IND”and “ADV_SCAN_IND” are used to transmit information (for example, datafor use in an application or data such as position information) to anunspecified device.

It should be noted that generally, power consumption is higher in a scanthan in advertising. This is because it is necessary to maintain thestate where an advertising packet can be received at any timing (thereception circuit is caused to operate) during the execution of a scan.In contrast, in advertising, a plurality of advertising packets aretransmitted in a single advertising event. However, a single advertisingpacket is transmitted in an extremely short time. Thus, even during thesingle advertising event, there is time when an advertising packet isnot transmitted. When transmitting an advertising packet, the advertiserneeds to cause a transmission circuit to operate, and also needs tooutput radio waves. Thus, power consumption becomes momentarily high.However, except when transmitting an advertising packet, the advertiserdoes not need to cause the transmission circuit to operate, or does notoutput radio waves. This reduces power consumption. Thus, powerconsumption in a certain period is higher in a scan than in advertising.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of communication between themobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a in a connection state. Asshown in FIG. 5, if two devices are in a connection state, synchronizedcommunication (synchronous communication) termed a connection event isperformed between the two devices at a predetermined time interval. Theinterval of the connection event is referred to as a “connectioninterval”. The connection interval is set by a master when theconnection is established. The connection interval in the connectionbetween the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a is CIa (forexample, 500 milliseconds). The connection interval may be set in therange of 7.5 milliseconds to 4 seconds.

In a single connection event, the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLEterminal 20 a transmit and receive data to and from each other using asingle data channel (for example, a channel 1). If CIa elapses since theoccurrence of a first connection event, the channel is switched, and anext connection event is performed. In the example shown in FIG. 5, thechannel 1is used in a first connection event, and a channel 3 is used ina second connection event. The number of channels to be hopped isreferred to as “the number of hops”. In the example shown in FIG. 5, thenumber of hops is “2”. The number of hops is set when the connectionbetween the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a isestablished.

A connection event is performed for each terminal having established aconnection. For example, if the mobile terminal 10 a is in the state ofbeing connected also to a BLE terminal 20 c, a connection event occursat a predetermined time interval also between the mobile terminal 10 aand the BLE terminal 20 c. In the example shown in FIG. 5, theconnection interval in the connection between the mobile terminal 10 aand the BLE terminal 20 c is CIc. If the mobile terminal 10 a isconnected to a plurality of BLE terminals 20, the mobile terminal 10 adetermines the timing of a first connection event so that connectionevents in all the connections do not temporally overlap each other.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing examples of communication in a connectionstate after a connection between the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLEterminal 20 a is established.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the state where the mobile terminal 10 a and theBLE terminal 20 a are connected together, the two devices performcommunication in each connection event, and do not perform communicationduring a period other than a connection event. For example, each devicedoes not cause the reception circuit and the transmission circuit tooperate (if not communicating with the other device) in a period otherthan a connection event, and causes the reception circuit and thetransmission circuit to operate at the timing of a connection event,thereby performing communication.

Specifically, if the connection interval (CIa) elapses since the timingof the previous connection event, the mobile terminal 10 a transmits apacket to the BLE terminal 20 a, and the BLE terminal 20 a transmits aresponse to the packet to the mobile terminal 10 a. Here, in eachdevice, an error in measurement of time occurs, and therefore, the BLEterminal 20 a, taking this error into account, attempts to receive apacket from the mobile terminal 10 a for a predetermined periodincluding the timing of a connection event. Specifically, the BLEterminal 20 a causes the reception circuit to operate at timing beforeCIa elapses since the timing of the previous connection event (thetiming when a packet has actually been received), thereby becoming ableto receive a packet from the mobile terminal 10 a. Further, the BLEterminal 20 a is in the state of being able to receive a packet from themobile terminal 10 a also at timing after CIa elapses since the timingof the previous connection event. That is, taking the above error intoaccount, the BLE terminal 20 a enters the state of being able to receivea packet during periods before and after the time when a theoreticalconnection interval CIa elapses since the timing of the previousconnection event. When a connection is established, time accuracyinformation of the mobile terminal 10 a (a master) is transmitted fromthe mobile terminal 10 a to the BLE terminal 20 a. Based on the receivedaccuracy information of the mobile terminal 10 a and time accuracyinformation of the BLE terminal 20 a itself, the BLE terminal 20 acalculates the timing for causing the reception circuit to operate.

In a connection event, data (application data) for use in an applicationis transmitted and received. For example, the application data may bedata of a game character and an item, the IDs of the game character andthe item, text, a sign, data representing a content to be reproduced inthe application (a moving image, a still image, or a sound) (the contentper se and the ID of the content), data from various sensors, or thelike. The application data may be transmitted in a single packet, or maybe transmitted by dividing the application data into a plurality ofpackets. For example, in a device (the mobile terminal 10 a or the BLEterminal 20 a) having received the ID of a content, an applicationinterprets the received ID and reproduces a content (a moving image, astill image, a sound, or the like) corresponding to the received ID.Data of the content corresponding to the ID may be stored in a storagedevice included in the device having received the ID, or may be storedoutside the device. For example, the device having received the ID (themobile terminal 10 a or the BLE terminal 20 a) transmits the ID to aserver device different from the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLEterminal 20 a and downloads data of the content corresponding to the IDfrom the server device. Then, based on the downloaded data of thecontent, the content may be reproduced.

For example, to acquire application data from the BLE terminal 20 a, ina connection event, the mobile terminal 10 a transmits a dataacquisition request to the BLE terminal 20 a by including the dataacquisition request in a data packet (a data PDU). The BLE terminal 20 atransmits data corresponding to the acquisition request by including thedata in a response packet. If the application data does not fit in asingle packet, the BLE terminal 20 a divides the application data andtransmits the pieces of divided application data by including the piecesof divided application data in a plurality of response packets. Eachresponse packet includes a piece of divided application data and asequence number. The mobile terminal 10 a arranges the pieces of dividedapplication data in the order of sequence number, thereby reconstructingthe application data. A connection event is thus performed multipletimes, thereby transmitting application data of a size that does not fitin a single packet from the BLE terminal 20 a to the mobile terminal 10a (or from the mobile terminal 10 a to the BLE terminal 20 a).

Here, slave latency is set for the connection between the mobileterminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a. The slave latency is the numberof connection events that the BLE terminal 20 a (a peripheral) canignore (skip). Normally, in each connection event, the mobile terminal10 a (a central) transmits a packet to the BLE terminal 20 a, and inaccordance with the reception of the packet, the BLE terminal 20 areturns a response packet. Consequently, application data is exchanged.If, however, there is no data to be transmitted, the BLE terminal 20 amay not need to return a response.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, slave latency SLa is set to “4”. Asshown in FIG. 6, in a connection event at a time t0, the mobile terminal10 a transmits a packet to the BLE terminal 20 a, and in accordance withthe packet, the BLE terminal 20 a transmits a response packet to themobile terminal 10 a. In a connection event at a time t1 after CIaelapses, the mobile terminal 10 a transmits a packet to the BLE terminal20 a, but the BLE terminal 20 a may not need to transmit a responsepacket to the mobile terminal 10 a. Further, also at next times t2, t3,and t4, the BLE terminal 20 a may not need to transmit a response packetto the mobile terminal 10 a. On the other hand, in a connection event ata time t5 after CIa elapses since the time t4, the BLE terminal 20 atransmits a response packet to the mobile terminal 10 a. Further, inconnection events at subsequent times t6 to t9, the BLE terminal 20 amay not need to transmit a response packet to the mobile terminal 10 a,but in a connection event at a time t10, the BLE terminal 20 a transmitsa response packet to the mobile terminal 10 a. It should be noted thatin the connection events at the times tl to t4 and t6 to t9, the BLEterminal 20 a may transmit a response packet to the mobile terminal 10a. That is, the slave latency is the maximum number of times the BLEterminal 20 a as a slave can successively ignore a connection event. Asdescribed above, there is a case where the mobile terminal 10 a does notreceive a packet from the BLE terminal 20 a for a predeterminedallowance period (the number of connection events indicated by the slavelatency). It should be noted that this allowance period may berepresented by the number of connection events as described above, ormay be represented by time.

The slave latency can be considered as a right to ignore a response tothe mobile terminal 10 a (a central), the right given to the BLEterminal 20 a (a peripheral). The BLE terminal 20 a can determine, atits own discretion, whether or not to transmit a response to the mobileterminal 10 a in each connection event. For example, if it is necessaryto perform another type of processing or communicate with anotherdevice, the BLE terminal 20 a can omit a response to the mobile terminal10 a. The BLE terminal 20 a returns a response to the mobile terminal 10a in the range of the slave latency.

If between the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a do notcommunicate with each other for a predetermined period, the connectionbetween the two devices is terminated (disconnected) (the two devicestransition from the connection state to a non-connection state). Thedetermination of whether or not to terminate the connection between thetwo devices is made based on the connection supervision timeout.Specifically, if the time elapsed since the previous communication hasexceeded (or reached) the connection supervision timeout, the connectionbetween the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a isterminated. Here, the connection supervision timeout is set to a valuegreater than slave latency SL. Thus, for example, in FIG. 6, even if themobile terminal 10 a does not receive a response packet from the BLEterminal 20 a in the fifth connection event (t5), the mobile terminal 10a and the BLE terminal 20 a do not immediately transition to anon-connection state. This is because it is also assumed that if theslave latency is set to “4”, for example, and even if the BLE terminal20 a ignores four connection events (the connection events at tl to t4)and transmits a response packet to the mobile terminal 10 a in the fifthconnection event (t5), the mobile terminal 10 a cannot receive theresponse packet depending on the state of communication. If the mobileterminal 10 a cannot receive the response packet transmitted from theBLE terminal 20 a in the fifth connection event, and the connectionbetween the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a isterminated, connections are frequently terminated. To prevent such asituation, the connection supervision timeout is set to a value greaterthan the slave latency SL, and if the period in which communication isnot performed exceeds the connection supervision timeout, the twodevices transition from the connection state to a non-connection state(the connection between the two devices is terminated).

Specifically, the mobile terminal 10 a measures the time elapsed sincethe mobile terminal 10 a has received a response packet, and if theperiod in which the mobile terminal 10 a does not receive a responsepacket from the BLE terminal 20 a exceeds the connection supervisiontimeout (or reaches the connection supervision timeout), the mobileterminal 10 a transitions from the connection state to a non-connectionstate. Further, if the period in which the BLE terminal 20 a does notreceive a data packet from the mobile terminal 10 a exceeds theconnection supervision timeout (or reaches the connection supervisiontimeout), the BLE terminal 20 a transitions from the connection state toa non-connection state (or the BLE terminal 20 a measures the timeelapsed since the BLE terminal 20 a has transmitted a response packet tothe mobile terminal 10, and if the period in which the BLE terminal 20 adoes not transmit a response packet to the mobile terminal 10 a exceeds(or reaches) the connection supervision timeout, the BLE terminal 20 amay transition from the connection state to a non-connection state).That is, if the period in which each of the mobile terminal 10 a and theBLE terminal 20 a does not receive a packet from the connectiondestination exceeds (or reaches) the connection supervision timeout, themobile terminal 10 a or the BLE terminal 20 a transitions from theconnection state to a non-connection state.

It should be noted that if the time elapsed since the previouscommunication has been measured, and if the period in whichcommunication from the connection destination in a connection eventcannot be confirmed exceeds (or reaches) the connection supervisiontimeout, the mobile terminal 10 a or the BLE terminal 20 a may nottransition from the connection state to a non-connection state, and maydetermine that the connection is interrupted. For example, if it isdetermined that the connection is interrupted, the mobile terminal 10 aand/or the BLE terminal 20 a may transition to a connection interruptionstate. For example, if it is determined that the connection isinterrupted, the BLE terminal 20 a may transition to a state where theBLE terminal 20 a attempts to receive a packet from the mobile terminal10 a but does not transmit a packet to the mobile terminal 10 a. In thiscase, the timing of attempting to receive a packet may be, for example,an interval longer or shorter than the connection interval in theconnection state, or may be random. Alternatively, if it is determinedthat the connection is interrupted, the BLE terminal 20 a may transitionto a state where the BLE terminal 20 a does not attempt to receive apacket from the mobile terminal 10 a but periodically or randomlytransmits a packet to the mobile terminal 10 a. Further, if it isdetermined that the connection is interrupted, for example, the mobileterminal 10 a may transmit a packet to the BLE terminal 20 a at aninterval different from the connection interval set in the connectionstate (for example, an interval longer than the connection interval), ormay transmit a packet to the BLE terminal 20 a at randomly determinedtiming. Alternatively, if it is determined that the connection isinterrupted, the mobile terminal 10 a may not transmit a packet to theBLE terminal 20 a but may attempt to receive a packet from the BLEterminal 20 a. Then, the two devices having transitioned to aninterruption state may return to the connection state again based on thefact that each device receives a packet from the other (even if theconnection supervision timeout is exceeded or reached).

The connection supervision timeout is set to be twice “(SL+1)xconnectioninterval” or more. For example, if the connection interval is set to 500milliseconds, and the slave latency is set to 4, the connectionsupervision timeout may be set to 500 millisecondsx(4+1)×2=5 seconds. Itshould be noted that the connection supervision timeout may bedetermined by time, or may be determined by the number of connectionevents. For example, the connection interval is set to 500 milliseconds,and the slave latency is set to 4, the connection supervision timeoutmay be set to “(4+1)×2=10”. In this case, the connection supervisiontimeout is “5 seconds” in terms of time. In this case, for example, inFIG. 6, even if the mobile terminal 10 a does not receive a responsepacket from the BLE terminal 20 a in the fifth connection event (t5),the connection events at t6 to t10 are executed (the connection betweenthe two devices is maintained during this period). If the mobileterminal 10 a receives a response packet from the BLE terminal 20 a inthe connection event at the time t10, the connection between the twodevices is maintained. If, on the other hand, the mobile terminal 10 adoes not receive a response packet from the BLE terminal 20 a in thefifth connection event (t5), and if the mobile terminal 10 a does notreceive a response packet from the BLE terminal 20 a in the connectionevent at the time t10, either (that is, the mobile terminal 10 a doesnot receive a response packet in all the connection events after t1),the connection between the two devices is terminated. It should be notedthat the connection supervision timeout may be determined in the rangeof 100 milliseconds to 32 seconds, for example.

It should be noted that the defined range of the slave latency SL is 0to 499, for example. The BLE standard, however, is time synchronizationcommunication, and therefore, it is necessary to synchronize the twodevices before the accumulated error of clocks of the two devicesexceeds a certain value. A necessary communication interval taking intoaccount the accumulated error of the clocks is termed an effectiveconnection interval. The effective connection interval is represented by“(SL+1)xconnection interval” and needs to be set to be half theconnection supervision timeout or less. Thus, the maximum value of theslave latency is limited by the connection supervision timeout.

It should be noted that based on the slave latency, it may be determinedwhether or not to terminate the connection between the mobile terminal10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a. For example, if the period in which themobile terminal 10 a does not receive a response packet from the BLEterminal 20 a exceeds the slave latency (or the period reaches the slavelatency), the mobile terminal 10 a may terminate the connection with theBLE terminal 20 a.

As described above, if there is no data to be transmitted to the mobileterminal 10, the BLE terminal 20 may not need to transmit a responsepacket to the mobile terminal 10 in the range of the slave latency.Further, even if the period in which the mobile terminal 10 does notreceive a response packet from the BLE terminal 20 exceeds the slavelatency, but if the period in which the mobile terminal 10 does notreceive the response packet does not exceed the connection supervisiontimeout, the mobile terminal 10 does not terminate the connection withthe BLE terminal 20. However, even if the period in which the mobileterminal 10 does not receive a response packet from the BLE terminal 20does not exceed the connection supervision timeout, but if the periodexceeds the slave latency, the clock error between the two devices maybe accumulated, and the two devices may not be able to be synchronized.If the two devices cannot be synchronized, the mobile terminal 10 andthe BLE terminal 20 cannot communicate with each other, and theconnection is terminated. Thus, the BLE terminal 20 (a slave) transmitsa response packet to the mobile terminal 10 so that the number of timesthe BLE terminal 20 successively ignores a connection event (the numberof times the slave does not return a response packet to the master) doesnot exceed the slave latency SL. This makes it possible to synchronizethe mobile terminal 10 and the BLE terminal 20 in an SL+1-th connectionevent from the previous communication at the latest. Thus, it ispossible to avoid the risk of terminating the connection between themobile terminal 10 and the BLE terminal 20.

It should be noted that in a connection event, the connection intervalis changed, or the slave latency is changed, or the connectionsupervision timeout is changed. The connection interval is changed bythe mobile terminal 10 a (a central). The slave latency is changed basedon a request from the BLE terminal 20 a (a peripheral) (the request isincluded in a response packet). The BLE terminal 20 a may transmit tothe mobile terminal 10 a a request to change the connection interval,and the mobile terminal 10 a may change the slave latency. Further, boththe mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a may be able to makerequests to change the connection interval, the slave latency, and theconnection supervision timeout. In this case, to change the connectioninterval, priority may be given to the request from the mobile terminal10 a (a central). To change the slave latency, priority may be given tothe request from the BLE terminal 20 a (a peripheral). Meanwhile, alsoregarding a change in any of the connection interval, the slave latency,and the connection supervision timeout, priority may be given to therequest from the device as a master (the mobile terminal 10 a) over thedevice as a slave (the BLE terminal 20 a).

As described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6, the BLE terminal 20performs advertising for repeatedly broadcasting an advertising packetfor a connection. As an example, the BLE terminal 20 remains in areception state for a while immediately after performing advertising (toreceive a connection request or the like from the mobile terminal 10).If receiving the advertising packet, the mobile terminal 10 transmits aconnection request to the BLE terminal 20. The connection requestincludes various parameters for a connection (the connection interval,the slave latency, and the like). If the mobile terminal 10 transmitsthe connection request, a connection between the mobile terminal 10 andthe BLE terminal 20 is established, and the two devices enter aconnection state.

In the connection state, at the timing of a connection event, the mobileterminal 10 causes the transmission circuit to operate and transmits adata packet to the BLE terminal 20. That is, if the timing of aconnection event arrives, the mobile terminal 10 a transmits a datapacket to the BLE terminal 20 a. Specifically, the mobile terminal 10 atransmits a data packet including an access address determined when theconnection is established. In synchronization with the mobile terminal10, the BLE terminal 20 causes the reception circuit to operate toreceive a packet from the mobile terminal 10. In accordance with thereception of a packet from the mobile terminal 10, the BLE terminal 20transmits to the mobile terminal 10 a response to the packet. Thisresponse packet also includes the access address. Here, the BLE terminal20 can ignore a packet from the mobile terminal 10 the number of timesdetermined based on the slave latency. To ignore a packet from themobile terminal 10 in a certain connection event, the BLE terminal 20may not cause the reception circuit to operate at the timing of theconnection event. If the period in which a response is not received fromthe BLE terminal 20 does not exceed the connection supervision timeout,the mobile terminal 10 maintains the connection with the BLE terminal20. If, on the other hand, the period in which a response is notreceived from the BLE terminal 20 exceeds (or reaches) the connectionsupervision timeout, the mobile terminal 10 terminates the connectionwith the BLE terminal 20 and enters a non-connection state. In thenon-connection state, a connection event does not occur between the twodevices. If the BLE terminal 20 performs advertising again, and themobile terminal 10 transmits a connection request, the non-connectionstate transitions to a connection state again.

As described above, when a connection is established between twodevices, a connection request is made (parameters for a connection areexchanged), and the two devices enter a connection state. If the twodevices are in the connection state, the two devices communicate witheach other at a predetermined time interval. If the two devices are in aconnection state, the two devices communicate with each other based oninformation exchanged when the connection is established. The connectionstate is maintained until the connection is terminated (for example, theperiod in which a response is not received from the BLE terminal 20exceeds the connection supervision timeout). If a user or an applicationgives an instruction to terminate the connection in the mobile terminal10, the connection between the two devices may be terminated. On theother hand, in a “non-connection state”, the above connection event doesnot occur. It should be noted that even in a non-connection state, twodevices may communicate with each other by performing broadcast using anadvertising packet.

(BLE Network According to Exemplary Embodiment)

Next, the connection form of the BLE network according to the exemplaryembodiment is described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of theconnection form of the BLE network according to the exemplaryembodiment.

As shown in FIG. 7, a wireless device system 1 according to theexemplary embodiment includes a plurality of devices capable ofperforming wireless communication based on the BLE standard and includesa mobile terminal 10 a, a mobile terminal 10 b, a BLE terminal 20 a, anda BLE terminal 20 b. In FIG. 7, the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLEterminal 20 a are in the state of being connected together such that themobile terminal 10 a serves as a central, and the BLE terminal 20 aserves as a peripheral (a connection A). Further, the mobile terminal 10b and the BLE terminal 20 b are in the state of being connected togethersuch that the mobile terminal 10 b serves as a central, and the BLEterminal 20 b serves as a peripheral (a connection B).

In the exemplary embodiment, in the state as shown in FIG. 7, if the BLEterminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b are present in the range wherecommunication can be performed, the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLEterminal 20 b can communicate with each other. Specifically, the BLEterminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b can establish a connectionbetween these two devices and communicate with each other in aconnection state. Further, the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20b can also communicate with each other in a non-connection state. Forexample, the BLE terminal 20 a can communicate with the BLE terminal 20b without an instruction from the mobile terminal 10 a as a master.Further, based on a request from an application layer of the mobileterminal 10 a or a user operation on the mobile terminal 10 a, themobile terminal 10 a may give an instruction to the BLE terminal 20 a,and in accordance with the instruction, the BLE terminal 20 a and theBLE terminal 20 b may communicate with each other.

First, a description is given of the case where the BLE terminal 20 aand the BLE terminal 20 b communicate with each other in the state ofnot being connected together.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the case where the BLEterminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b communicate with each other inthe state of not being connected together.

As shown in FIG. 8, the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 aare in the state of being connected together, and a connection eventoccurs at each connection interval CIa. The connection interval CIa inthe connection A between the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal20 a may be, for example, 500 milliseconds. Further, slave latency SLais set for the connection A between the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLEterminal 20 a, and for example, SLa=“4”.

In addition, the mobile terminal 10 b and the BLE terminal 20 b are inthe state of being connected together, and a connection event occurs ateach connection interval CIb. The connection interval CIb in theconnection B between the mobile terminal 10 b and the BLE terminal 20 bmay be, for example, 500 milliseconds. Further, slave latency SLb is setfor the connection B between the mobile terminal 10 b and the BLEterminal 20 b, and for example, SLb=“5”.

In such a state, the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 brepeatedly execute advertising and a scan. Here, as an example, the typeof advertising is the above “ADV_NONCONN_IND”. That is, an advertisingpacket indicating that a connection is not possible is transmittedbetween the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b. Consequently,the BLE terminal 20 a transmits data to the BLE terminal 20 b, and theBLE terminal 20 b transmits data to the BLE terminal 20 a.

Specifically, to avoid the risk of terminating the connection A with themobile terminal 10 a, the BLE terminal 20 a communicates with the mobileterminal 10 a in the slave latency SLa, and on the other hand,repeatedly executes a scan and advertising while not communicating withthe mobile terminal 10 a, thereby attempting to communicate with the BLEterminal 20 b. For example, the BLE terminal 20 a returns a response tothe mobile terminal 10 a in a connection event in the connection A withthe mobile terminal 10 a and then does not return a response to themobile terminal 10 a in the next four connection events. In the periodwhen the four connection events are performed, the BLE terminal 20 arepeatedly executes a scan and advertising, thereby attempting tocommunicate with the BLE terminal 20 b. That is, the BLE terminal 20 aignores a plurality of connection events such that the slave latency SLais the upper limit. Then, during the ignored connection events, the BLEterminal 20 a repeatedly executes a scan and advertising to communicatewith the BLE terminal 20 b. As shown in FIG. 8, a stopping period isprovided between a scan and advertising. It should be noted that a scanand advertising may be alternately performed with a stopping periodtherebetween (FIG. 8), or a scan and advertising may be alternatelyperformed without a stopping period therebetween (not shown). Further, ascan and advertising may not necessarily need to be alternatelyperformed.

Similarly, to avoid the risk of terminating the communication B with themobile terminal 10 b, the BLE terminal 20 b communicates with the mobileterminal 10 b, and on the other hand, repeatedly executes a scan andadvertising while not communicating with the mobile terminal 10 b. Forexample, the BLE terminal 20 b returns a response to the mobile terminal10 b in a connection event in the connection B with the mobile terminal10 b and then repeatedly executes a scan and advertising withoutreturning a response to the mobile terminal 10 b in the next fiveconnection events.

If the timing of a scan and the timing of advertising of the BLEterminals 20 a and 20 b coincide with each other, the BLE terminalscommunicate with each other. For example, if the BLE terminal 20 bexecutes advertising while the BLE terminal 20 a executes a scan, theBLE terminal 20 b transmits data to the BLE terminal 20 a. Conversely,if the BLE terminal 20 a executes advertising while the BLE terminal 20b executes a scan, the BLE terminal 20 a transmits data to the BLEterminal 20 b. As described above, the BLE terminals 20 can communicatewith each other even in the states of being connected as slaves to otherdevices (the mobile terminals 10).

It should be noted that hereinafter, each mobile terminal 10 willoccasionally be referred to as a “parent”, and each BLE terminal 20 willoccasionally be referred to as a “child”. The “parent” means the same asa central (a master), and the “child” means the same as a peripheral (aslave). Further, the connection between each mobile terminal 10 and eachBLE terminal 20 will occasionally be referred to as a “parent-to-childconnection”, and the communication between the BLE terminal 20 a and theBLE terminal 20 b will occasionally be referred to as “child-to-childcommunication”.

Here, if the timing of a scan and the timing of advertising of the BLEterminals 20 do not coincide with each other, the BLE terminals 20cannot communicate with each other. For example, if the BLE terminal 20b does not perform advertising while the BLE terminal 20 a executes ascan, the BLE terminal 20 a cannot receive data from the BLE terminal 20b.

The BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b repeatedly execute ascan and advertising at regular time intervals, and the lengths of ascan and advertising are fixed, the timing of a scan (or advertising) ofthe BLE terminal 20 a and the timing of advertising (or a scan) of theBLE terminal 20 b do not coincide with each other, and the two devicesmay remain incapable of communicating with each other. In response, inthe exemplary embodiment, to match the timing of a scan (or advertising)of the BLE terminal 20 a and the timing of advertising (or a scan) ofthe BLE terminal 20 b, the execution periods (the lengths of theexecution period) of a scan and advertising to be executed by each BLEterminal 20 are randomly changed.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the state where the execution periods of ascan and advertising to be executed by the BLE terminals 20 change.

For illustrative purposes, FIG. 9 shows an example of the case where theexecution periods of a scan and advertising to be executed by the BLEterminal 20 a are fixed, and the execution periods of a scan andadvertising to be executed by the BLE terminal 20 b are variable.

As shown in FIG. 9, the BLE terminal 20 a repeatedly executes a scan andadvertising, and an execution period ST0 of a scan and an executionperiod AT0 of advertising are fixed. Further, a stopping period in whichneither a scan nor advertising is performed is also fixed. In contrast,in the BLE terminal 20 b, the execution period of a scan and theexecution period of advertising are random. For example, the executionperiod of a first scan is ST0, the execution period of a second scan isST1 (>ST0), and the execution period of a third scan is ST2. Further,the execution period of first advertising is AT1, and the executionperiod of second advertising is AT2 (>AT1). Further, in the exampleshown in FIG. 9, the stopping period is also random in the BLE terminal20 b. As described above, the execution period of a scan, the executionperiod of advertising, and the stopping period change, whereby theexecution period of a scan (or advertising) of the BLE terminal 20 aoverlaps the execution period of advertising (or a scan) of the BLEterminal 20 b. Consequently, the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal20 b communicate with each other.

It should be noted that in FIG. 9, an example has been described wherethe execution period of a scan, the execution period of advertising, andthe stopping period are randomly changed. Alternatively, at least anyone of the execution period of a scan, the execution period ofadvertising, and the stopping period may randomly change. It should benoted that these periods may be determined based on a random number thatis completely random, or may be determined based on a so-calledpseudorandom number (a random number from which some regularity cannotbe removed). These random numbers may be generated by hardware orsoftware. Further, the execution period of a scan and the executionperiod of advertising may be fixed, and the execution timing of a scanand/or the execution timing of advertising may be variable. That is, atleast any of the execution period (the length of the execution period)of a scan, the execution period of advertising, the stopping period, theexecution timing of a scan, and the execution timing of advertising maybe variable. Further, the execution period of a scan, the executionperiod of advertising, and the stopping period may be changed in acertain pattern. Further, the stopping period may be provided as part ofa reception process or a transmission process.

In addition, the BLE terminals may exchange information regarding a scanand/or advertising, thereby adjusting the execution period and theexecution timing of a scan and/or advertising. FIG. 10 is a diagramillustrating a method in which one of the BLE terminals 20 transmitsinformation indicating the execution timing of a scan and/oradvertising, thereby adjusting the execution timing of a scan and/oradvertising.

As shown in FIG. 10, for example, an advertising packet from the BLEterminal 20 a includes timing information indicating the timing when theBLE terminal 20 a executes advertising and/or a scan next. Receiving theadvertising packet from the BLE terminal 20 a, then based on the timinginformation included in the advertising packet, the BLE terminal 20 badjusts the execution timing of advertising and/or a scan to be executednext. In the example shown in FIG. 10, it is assumed that if the BLEterminal 20 b does not receive the advertising packet from the BLEterminal 20 a, the BLE terminal 20 b performs advertising at timing T1after a first scan. In this case, in accordance with the reception ofthe advertising packet from the BLE terminal 20 a, the BLE terminal 20 bperforms next advertising at timing T2. Specifically, the advertisingpacket from the BLE terminal 20 a at timing T0 includes “T2” asinformation indicating the timing when the BLE terminal 20 a executes ascan next. Further, the BLE terminal 20 a may transmit “T3” byincluding, in the advertising packet at the timing T0, “T3” asinformation indicating the timing when the BLE terminal 20 a itselfexecutes advertising next. The BLE terminal 20 b performs advertising intime with the timing T2 of a scan to be executed next by the BLEterminal 20 a. Further, in accordance with the information from the BLEterminal 20 a, the BLE terminal 20 b may perform a scan in time with thetiming T3. This makes it possible to match the execution timing of ascan of the BLE terminal 20 a and the execution timing of advertising ofthe BLE terminal 20 b. This enables the BLE terminal 20 b to transmitdata to the BLE terminal 20 a. An advertising packet to be transmittedfrom the BLE terminal 20 b also includes timing information indicatingthe execution timing of next advertising and/or a next scan. It shouldbe noted that in accordance with the reception of an advertising packetfrom the BLE terminal 20 a, the BLE terminal 20 b transmits a scanrequest to the BLE terminal 20 b, and in accordance with the scanrequest, the BLE terminal 20 b transmits a scan response. This scanresponse may include the above timing information.

As described above, each BLE terminal 20 transmits informationindicating the timing for executing advertising and/or a scan next timeor later, by including the information in an advertising packet. Thisenables the BLE terminals 20 to adjust the execution timing ofadvertising and/or a scan so that while one device executes advertising,the other device executes a scan. It should be noted that the BLEterminal 20 may transmit information indicating the execution period(the length of the execution period) of advertising and/or a scan, byincluding the information in an advertising packet. Based on anadvertising packet received from another device, the BLE terminal 20 canadjust the timing for executing advertising and/or a scan next time orlater and the execution period (the length of the execution period) ofadvertising and/or a scan next time or later.

As described above, the BLE terminals 20 adjust the execution timing ofadvertising and/or a scan, whereby it is possible to efficiently performcommunication between the BLE terminals. If each BLE terminal 20randomly determines the execution timing and the execution period ofadvertising and a scan, the two devices cannot communicate with eachother unless the execution period of advertising of one deviceaccidentally overlaps the execution period of a scan of the otherdevice. In the example shown in FIG. 10, however, each BLE terminal 20adjusts the timing of advertising and a scan so that the executionperiod of advertising of one device overlaps the execution period of ascan of the other device. This enables the two devices to efficientlycommunicate with each other.

Next, a description is given of the adjustment of the connections(parent-to-child connections) between the mobile terminals 10 and theBLE terminals 20 for performing communication between the BLE terminals20.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the state where the connections between themobile terminals 10 (centrals) and the BLE terminals 20 (peripherals)are adjusted.

The mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a are in the state ofbeing connected together, and the mobile terminal 10 b and the BLEterminal 20 b are in the state of being connected together. Theconnection interval CIa in the connection A between the mobile terminal10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a is, for example, 500 milliseconds, andthe slave latency SLa is, for example, “4”. The connection interval CIbin the connection B between the mobile terminal 10 b and the BLEterminal 20 b is, for example, 500 milliseconds, and the slave latencySLb is, for example, “5”.

As shown in FIG. 11, the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 brepeatedly execute advertising and a scan, thereby communicating witheach other. Here, if the BLE terminal 20 a does not return a response tothe mobile terminal 10 a in a connection event in the connection A attiming Ta1, the number of times the BLE terminal 20 a ignores aconnection event exceeds the slave latency SLa in the connection A withthe mobile terminal 10 a. Thus, the BLE terminal 20 a communicates withthe mobile terminal 10 a at the timing Ta1. While communicating with themobile terminal 10 a, the BLE terminal 20 a performs neither advertisingnor a scan. Further, the BLE terminal 20 b also communicates with themobile terminal 10 b at timing Tb1, and on the other hand, performsneither advertising nor a scan so that the number of times the BLEterminal 20 b ignores a connection event does not exceed the slavelatency SLb in the connection B with the mobile terminal 10 b.

As described above, the BLE terminals 20 (peripherals) preferentiallyperform communication with the mobile terminals 10 (centrals). Thisenables the BLE terminals 20 to communicate with the mobile terminal 10at least in the range of the slave latency. However, this reduces theefficiency of the communication between the BLE terminals 20. Inresponse, in the exemplary embodiment, to increase the efficiency of thecommunication between the BLE terminals 20 while performingcommunication between the mobile terminals 10 and the BLE terminals 20in the range of the slave latency, the timing of the communicationbetween the mobile terminals 10 and the BLE terminals 20 is adjusted.Specifically, timing Ta of communication between the mobile terminal 10a and the BLE terminal 20 a (the timing when the BLE terminal 20 areturns a response packet to the mobile terminal 10 a) and timing Tb ofcommunication between the mobile terminal 10 b and the BLE terminal 20 b(the timing when the BLE terminal 20 b returns a response packet to themobile terminal 10 b) are adjusted to be close to each other.

For example, based on the connection interval CIa, the number of timesthe BLE terminal 20 a ignores a connection event, and the slave latencySLa, the BLE terminal 20 a can calculate timing Ta2 when the BLEterminal 20 a transmits a response packet to the mobile terminal 10 anext. Next, the BLE terminal 20 a transmits information indicatingtiming Ta2 for performing communication the mobile terminal 10 a, byincluding the information in an advertising packet. If the BLE terminal20 b receives the advertising packet, the BLE terminal 20 b performscommunication with the mobile terminal 10 b (transmits a response packetto the mobile terminal 10 b) at timing Tb2, which is close to the timingTa2. Here, even if the BLE terminal 20 b does not communicate with themobile terminal 10 b at the timing Tb2, the number of times the BLEterminal 20 b ignores a connection event is in the range of the slavelatency SLb. Thus, the BLE terminal 20 b does not need to communicatewith the mobile terminal 10 b at the timing Tb2. However, based on theinformation indicating the timing Ta2 received from the BLE terminal 20a, the BLE terminal 20 b communicates with the mobile terminal 10 bwithout performing a scan and advertising for communication with the BLEterminal 20 a at the timing Tb2.

As described above, the timing of communication between the mobileterminals 10 and the BLE terminals 20 is adjusted.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state after FIG. 11, and is a diagramshowing an example of the communication between the devices after theconnections between the mobile terminals 10 (centrals) and the BLEterminals 20 (peripherals) are adjusted. After the adjustment as shownin FIG. 11 is made, then as shown in FIG. 12, the timing (Ta3 to Ta5) ofcommunication between the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 acomes close to the timing (Tb3 to Tb5) of communication between themobile terminal 10 b and the BLE terminal 20 b. In the example shown inFIG. 12, before the slave latency SLb arrives, the BLE terminal 20 bperforms communication with the mobile terminal 10 b. This enables theBLE terminals 20 to efficiently communicate with each other whilereturning a response packet to the mobile terminal 10 in the range ofthe slave latency, thereby avoiding the risk of terminating theconnection with the mobile terminal 10.

Next, a description is given of the case where the BLE terminals 20establish a connection with each other and communicate with each otherin a connection state. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of thestate where, when the mobile terminals 10 and the BLE terminals 20 arein the state of being connected together, the BLE terminals 20 establisha connection with each other.

As shown in FIG. 13, similarly to FIG. 11, the mobile terminal 10 a andthe BLE terminal 20 a are in the state of being connected together, andthe mobile terminal 10 b and the BLE terminal 20 b are in the state ofbeing connected together. In this state, the BLE terminal 20 a and theBLE terminal 20 b repeatedly execute a scan and advertising as shown inFIG. 8. As described above, the execution periods of a scan andadvertising to be repeatedly performed randomly change (see FIG. 9). Asshown in FIG. 13, for example, while the BLE terminal 20 a executes ascan, the BLE terminal 20 b broadcasts to an unspecified device anadvertising packet indicating that a connection is possible (“ADV_IND”).The BLE terminal 20 a receives the advertising packet. In response tothis, the BLE terminal 20 a transmits a connection request to the BLEterminal 20 b. Then, a connection C (a child-to-child connection)between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b is establishedsuch that the BLE terminal 20 a serves as a central (a master), and theBLE terminal 20 b serves as a peripheral (a slave). In a child-to-childconnection, both the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b can becentrals, but the scanner (the initiator) becomes a central. Thus, inthe example of FIG. 13, the BLE terminal 20 a becomes a central in theconnection C with the BLE terminal 20 b.

When the connection C between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal20 b is established, then similarly to the above, a connection intervalCIc and slave latency SLc are determined. For example, as a slavelatency SLc, “4” is determined. The connection interval CIc in theconnection C between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b maybe determined in accordance with the connection interval CIa (or CIb) inthe parent-to-child connection.

For example, the BLE terminal 20 a may set as CIc a value (for example,250 milliseconds) smaller than the connection interval CIa in theconnection A between the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a.CIc is set to be shorter than CIa, whereby it is possible to frequentlyperform communication between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal20 b. Thus, the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b can exchangemore information. Conversely, the BLE terminal 20 a may set as CIc avalue (for example, 1second) greater than CIa. In this case, it ispossible to perform communication between the mobile terminal 10 a andthe BLE terminal 20 a more preferentially.

In addition, the slave latency SLc in the connection C between the BLEterminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b may be determined in accordancewith SLa (or SLb) in the parent-to-child connection. For example, theBLE terminal 20 a may determine as SLc a value greater than SLa.Conversely, the BLE terminal 20 a may determine as SLc a value smallerthan SLa. Further, the BLE terminal 20 a may set CIc and/or SLc based onCIa and SLa in the connection A. Further, the BLE terminal 20 a maydetermine CIc and/or SLc in accordance with the state of communicationin the connection with the mobile terminal 10 a (the above CIa, SLa, theamount of communication in the connection A with the mobile terminal 10a, the state of radio waves in the connection A with the mobile terminal10 a, and the like).

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a state after FIG. 13, and is a diagramshowing an example of communication in the state where the BLE terminal20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b are connected together.

As shown in FIG. 14, in the state where the BLE terminal 20 a and theBLE terminal 20 b are connected together, a connection event in theconnection C between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 brepeatedly occurs, and the two devices transmit and receive data to andfrom each other. Here, while the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLEterminal 20 a communicate with each other, the BLE terminal 20 arestricts communication with the BLE terminal 20 b. That is, at thetiming when a connection event occurs in the connection A with themobile terminal 10 a, the BLE terminal 20 a preferentially communicateswith the mobile terminal 10 a, and does not communicate with the BLEterminal 20 b. Similarly, while the mobile terminal 10 b and the BLEterminal 20 b communicate with each other, the BLE terminal 20 brestricts communication with the BLE terminal 20 a. That is, the BLEterminal 20 gives priority to the parent-to-child communication over thechild-to-child communication. The period in which communication betweenthe BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b is restricted is aperiod in the range of the slave latency SLc. As described above,communication between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b isrestricted in the range of the slave latency SLc, whereby it is possibleto avoid the risk of terminating the connection C between the BLEterminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b, while avoiding the risk ofterminating the connection A between the mobile terminal 10 a and theBLE terminal 20 a and the connection B between the mobile terminal 10 band the BLE terminal 20 b.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a specific example of the method forrestricting communication between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLEterminal 20 b.

As shown in FIG. 15, in a connection event at timing Tc1 before thetiming Ta when the BLE terminal 20 a communicates with the mobileterminal 10 a, the BLE terminal 20 a changes the connection interval toCIc2, which is longer than currently set CIc. In the connection Cbetween the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b, the BLEterminal 20 a is a central, and therefore, the BLE terminal 20 a canfreely change the connection interval CIc. If the connection interval ischanged from CIc to CIc2, the next connection event in the connection Cbetween the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b occurs aftercommunication with the mobile terminal 10 a (communication at the timingTa) is performed. Thus, while the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLEterminal 20 a communicate with each other, it is possible to prevent theBLE terminal 20 a from communicating with the BLE terminal 20 b. Asdescribed above, the BLE terminal 20 a can optionally change the currentconnection interval so that the timing of a connection event in theconnection A with the mobile terminal 10 a as a parent does not overlapthe timing of a connection event in the connection C with the BLEterminal 20 b (for example, to give priority to a connection event inthe connection A with the mobile terminal 10 a).

In addition, if the mobile terminal 10 b and the BLE terminal 20 bperform communication with each other, the BLE terminal 20 b does notcommunicate with the BLE terminal 20 a, and preferentially communicateswith the mobile terminal 10 b. In the example shown in FIG. 15, tocommunicate with the mobile terminal 10 b, the BLE terminal 20 b skips aconnection event in the connection C between the BLE terminal 20 a andthe BLE terminal 20 b only once. Since the slave latency SLc in theconnection C between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b is“4”, the BLE terminal 20 b can skip a single connection event. In thenext connection event (timing Tc2) in the connection C between the BLEterminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b, the BLE terminal 20 a notifiesthe BLE terminal 20 b that the connection interval is to be changed backfrom CIc2 to CIc.

It should be noted that the BLE terminal 20 b can change the slavelatency SLc in the connection C. For example, if it is determined thatit is necessary to avoid communicating with the BLE terminal 20 a for aperiod longer than the current slave latency SLc, the BLE terminal 20 btransmits to the BLE terminal 20 a a request to change the slave latencySLc in a connection event in the connection C. For example, if the BLEterminal 20 b needs to transmit a large amount of data to the mobileterminal 10 b, the BLE terminal 20 b transmits to the BLE terminal 20 aa request to change the slave latency so that SLc is longer than thecurrent slave latency SLc. Further, the BLE terminal 20 b may transmitto the BLE terminal 20 a a request to change the connection interval sothat CIc is longer than the current slave latency CIc.

As described above, the connection interval CIc and the slave latencySLc in the connection C between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLEterminal 20 b are changed, whereby it is possible to restrictcommunication between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b.This makes it possible to give priority to the communication between themobile terminals 10 and the BLE terminals 20 over the communicationbetween the BLE terminals 20, and perform parent-to-child communicationin the range of the slave latency. For example, if it is difficult tomaintain the connection with the mobile terminal 10 a, the BLE terminal20 a may terminate the connection state with the BLE terminal 20 b. Thatis, if it is difficult to maintain the parent-to-child connection, thechild-to-child connection may be terminated. The determination ofwhether or not it is difficult to maintain the parent-to-childconnection may be made based on, for example, the slave latency in theparent-to-child connection, the intensity of radio waves in theparent-to-child connection, an error rate, and the like. For example, ifthe number of times the BLE terminal 20 ignores a connection event inthe connection with the mobile terminal 10 exceeds the slave latency SL,the BLE terminal 20 may determine that it is difficult to maintain theparent-to-child connection (the risk of terminating the parent-to-childconnection is high). Alternatively, if the number of times the BLEterminal 20 ignores a connection event exceeds “SL+predeterminednumber”, the BLE terminal 20 may determine that it is difficult tomaintain the parent-to-child connection. Further, if it is necessary toexchange a large amount of data between a parent and a child in a shorttime, the BLE terminal 20 may change CIc and SLc, thereby avoidingperforming child-to-child communication. For example, if the mobileterminal 10 a executes a predetermined application (for example, a gameapplication), and the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 bneed to frequently communicate with each other, the BLE terminal 20 amay preferentially communicate with the mobile terminal 10 a (may avoidcommunicating with the BLE terminal 20 b).

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of communication in the casewhere, when the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b areconnected together, the connections between the mobile terminals 10 andthe BLE terminals 20 are adjusted.

As shown in FIG. 16, the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b arein the state of being connected together, and a connection event in thechild-to-child connection C occurs at each connection interval CIc.Further, as described with reference to FIG. 12, the timing (Ta3 to Ta5)of communication between the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal20 a and the timing (Tb3 to Tb5) of communication between the mobileterminal 10 b and the BLE terminal 20 b are adjusted and almost coincidewith each other. In this case, the BLE terminal 20 a (20 b) restrictschild-to-child communication for a predetermined period including thetiming for performing communication with the mobile terminal 10 a (10b). The timing (Ta3 to Ta5) when the BLE terminal 20 a communicates withthe mobile terminal 10 a and the timing (Tb3 to Tb5) when the BLEterminal 20 b communicates with the mobile terminal 10 b almost coincidewith each other. Thus, both the children restrict child-to-childcommunication almost at the same timing. Such adjustment is made,thereby enabling the BLE terminals 20 to avoid the risk of terminatingthe connections with the mobile terminals 10, while efficientlycommunicating with each other.

[Details of Processing by Each Device]

(Processing by Mobile Terminal 10)

Next, a description is given of the details of the processing performedby the mobile terminal 10 and the BLE terminal 20. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing performed by the mobileterminal 10. FIG. 18 is a detailed flow chart of step S108 in FIG. 17.The mobile terminal 10 includes a processor for performing theprocessing shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, and the processor is implemented asa BLE communication module. It should be noted that a description isgiven below on the assumption that the BLE communication module (theprocessor) of the mobile terminal 10 performs the processing shown inFIGS. 17 and 18. Alternatively, part or all of the processing shown inFIGS. 17 and 18 may be performed by the CPU of the mobile terminal 10 oranother processor executing a communication program.

A description is given below of the case where a connection isestablished between the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a.A similar flow also holds true for a connection between the mobileterminal 10 b and the BLE terminal 20 b.

As shown in FIG. 17, first, (the BLE communication module of) the mobileterminal 10 a determines whether or not the timing for executing a scanarrives (step S100). If it is determined that the timing for executing ascan arrives (step S100: YES), the mobile terminal 10 a executes a scan(step S101). Specifically, the mobile terminal 10 a executes a scanwhile switching between the three channels 37 to 39. The mobile terminal10 a may execute a scan at regular time intervals, or may randomlydetermine the timing for executing a scan and the length of time of theexecution of a scan. If it is determined that the timing for executing ascan does not arrive (step S100: NO), the mobile terminal 10 a performsthe process of step S100 again.

After step S101, the mobile terminal 10 a determines whether or not anadvertising packet is received from an advertiser (the BLE terminal 20a) (step S102). If an advertising packet is not received (step S102:NO), the mobile terminal 10 a executes the process of step S100 again.

If it is determined in step S102 that an advertising packet is receivedfrom an advertiser, then based on the received advertising packet, themobile terminal 10 a determines whether or not the advertising packetindicates that a connection is possible (step S103). Specifically, instep S103, the mobile terminal 10 a determines whether or not thereceived advertising packet is “ADV_IND” or “ADV_DIRECT_IND”.

If it is not determined that the advertising packet indicates that aconnection is possible (step S103: NO), the mobile terminal 10 aacquires data included in the advertising packet (step S104).Specifically, if the type of the advertising packet is“ADV_NONCONN_IND”, the mobile terminal 10 a acquires data included inthe advertising packet.

If it is determined that the advertising packet indicates that aconnection is possible (step S103: YES), the mobile terminal 10 atransmits a connection request to the BLE terminal 20 a havingtransmitted the advertising packet (step S105). This connection requestincludes information such as the address of the mobile terminal 10 a,the address of the BLE terminal 20 a, an access address, the connectioninterval CIa, the slave latency SLa, the number of hops, and theconnection supervision timeout. As described above, the access addressis used to identify a connection and is randomly determined for eachconnection by the mobile terminal 10 a. It should be noted that if thetype of the received advertising packet is “ADV_SCAN_IND”, the mobileterminal 10 a transmits a scan request to the advertiser havingtransmitted the advertising packet. If receiving a scan response to thescan request, then in step S105, the mobile terminal 10 a transmits aconnection request.

After transmitting the connection request, the mobile terminal 10 aestablishes a connection A with the BLE terminal 20 a (step S106).

After step S106, the mobile terminal 10 a performs a during-connectionprocess (step S107). The process of step S107 is a process forperforming communication in the connection A between the mobile terminal10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a and is repeatedly executed while themobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a maintain a connectionstate. With reference to FIG. 18, a description is given below of thedetails of the during-connection process performed by the mobileterminal 10 a.

As shown in FIG. 18, the mobile terminal 10 a performs addition on atime counter (step S110). Specifically, the mobile terminal 10 aperforms the process of step S110 at regular time intervals andincreases the time counter by 1 every time the mobile terminal 10 aperforms the process of step S110. Based on the value of the timecounter, the mobile terminal lOadetermines whether or not the connectioninterval CIa elapses since the previous connection event has beenexecuted (step S111).

If it is determined that the connection interval CIa elapses since theprevious connection event (step S111: YES), the mobile terminal 10 aexecutes processing (steps S112 to 120) related to a connection event inthe connection A with the BLE terminal 20 a. Specifically, the mobileterminal 10 a determines whether or not there is transmission data to betransmitted to the BLE terminal 20 a (step S112). For example, if themobile terminal 10 a needs to acquire application data from the BLEterminal 20 a in accordance with a request from an application, thedetermination is YES in step S112. Further, if the mobile terminal 10 aneeds to transmit application data to the BLE terminal 20 a, thedetermination is YES in step S112.

If the determination is YES in step S112, the mobile terminal 10 aincludes the transmission data in a packet (step S113). For example, toacquire application data from the BLE terminal 20 a, the mobile terminal10 a includes, as the transmission data in a packet, an acquisitionrequest for acquiring data from the BLE terminal 20 a.

If the process of step S113 is executed, or if the determination is NOin step S112, the mobile terminal 10 a transmits a packet to the BLEterminal 20 a (step S114). Specifically, the mobile terminal 10 atransmits a data packet to the BLE terminal 20 a using any of the datachannels 0 to 36. If the process of step S113 is executed, the payloadof the packet includes application data. If the process of step S113 isnot executed, the payload does not include data. It should be noted thatthis data packet includes the access address randomly determined whenthe connection is established. Based on the access address, the BLEterminal 20 a can receive a data packet from the mobile terminal 10 a.Further, if the mobile terminal 10 a changes the connection intervalCIa, information about new CIa is included in a packet and transmittedto the BLE terminal 20 a.

After step S114, the mobile terminal 10 a determines whether or not aresponse packet is received from the BLE terminal 20 a in the connectionstate (step S115). If a response packet is received from the BLEterminal 20 a (step S115: YES), the mobile terminal 10 a processesreceived data (step S116). Here, if receiving data corresponding to theacquisition request from the BLE terminal 20 a, (the BLE communicationmodule of) the mobile terminal 10 a transfers the data to theapplication.

After the process of step S116, the mobile terminal 10 a sets a variableN to “0” and also resets a variable T (step S117), and then returns tostep S110 again. Here, “N” indicates the number of connection events inwhich a response packet is not received from the BLE terminal 20 a inthe connection A between the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal20 a. That is, “N” indicates the number of times the BLE terminal 20 aignores (skips) a connection event. Further, the variable “T” is avariable indicating the time elapsed since the mobile terminal 10 a hasreceived a response packet from the BLE terminal 20 a. Using thevariable “T”, the mobile terminal 10 a determines whether or not toterminate the connection with the BLE terminal 20 a. For example, anumber may be added to “T” in accordance with the lapse of time, or 1may be added to “T” every time the process of step S110 is performed.

If, on the other hand, a response packet is not received from the BLEterminal 20 a (step S115: NO), the mobile terminal 10 a adds 1 to “N”(step S118). Then, the mobile terminal 10 a determines whether or not“T” is equal to or greater than the connection supervision timeout inthe connection A (step S119). If it is determined that T is equal to orgreater than the connection supervision timeout, the mobile terminal 10a terminates the connection A with the BLE terminal 20 a (step S120).If, on the other hand, it is not determined that T is equal to orgreater than the connection supervision timeout, the processing returnsto step S110.

(Processing by BLE Terminal 20 a)

Next, with reference to FIGS. 19 to 23, a description is given of thedetails of the processing performed by the BLE terminal 20. FIG. 19 is aflow chart showing an example of the processing performed by the BLEterminal 20 a. Here, a case is assumed where the BLE terminal 20 aperforms the processing in FIGS. 19 to 22, and the BLE terminal 20 bperforms the processing in FIG. 23. The BLE terminal 20 includes aprocessor for performing the processing shown in FIGS. 19 to 23, and theprocessor is implemented as the BLE communication module 25. Adescription is given below on the assumption that the BLE communicationmodule 25 (the processor) of the BLE terminal 20 performs the processingshown in FIGS. 19 to 23. It should be noted that the BLE terminal 20 mayinclude a CPU and/or another processor capable of executing anapplication (regardless of whether or not the CPU and/or the otherprocessor is implemented as the BLE communication module 25), and partor all of the processing shown in FIGS. 19 to 23 may be performed by theCPU and/or the other processor executing a communication program.

As shown in FIG. 19, the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or not thetiming for executing advertising arrives (step S200). If it isdetermined that the timing for executing advertising does not arrive(step S200: NO), the BLE terminal 20 a performs the process of step S200again.

If it is determined that the timing for executing advertising arrives(step S200: YES), the BLE terminal 20 a performs advertising (stepS201). Specifically, in step S201, the BLE terminal 20 a transmits anadvertising packet while switching between the three channels 37 to 39.Here, it is assumed that the BLE terminal 20 a transmits an advertisingpacket (the above “ADV_IND”) for connecting to an unspecified devicepresent around the BLE terminal 20 a itself.

Next, the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or not a connectionrequest transmitted from the mobile terminal 10 a (an initiator) in theabove step S105 is received (step S202). If a connection request is notreceived from another device (step S202: NO), the BLE terminal 20 aperforms the process of step S200 again.

If a connection request is received (step S202: YES), the BLE terminal20 a sets CI, SL, the connection supervision timeout, the number ofhops, the access address, and the like included in the connectionrequest and transitions to a connection state, and a connection Abetween the BLE terminal 20 a and the mobile terminal 10 a isestablished (step S203). After the connection A is established, the BLEterminal 20 a performs a during-connection process (step S204). Theduring-connection process is repeatedly executed while the connection Abetween the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a ismaintained. A description is given below of the details of theduring-connection process performed by the BLE terminal 20 a.

(During-Connection Process by BLE Terminal 20)

FIG. 20 is a detailed flow chart of the during-connection process instep S205.

As shown in FIG. 20, the BLE terminal 20 a performs addition on a timecounter (step S210). Specifically, the BLE terminal 20 a performs theprocess of step S210 at regular time intervals and increases the timecounter by 1 every time the BLE terminal 20 a performs the process ofstep S210. Based on the value of the time counter, the BLE terminal 20 adetermines whether or not the connection interval CIa elapses since theprevious connection event in the connection A (since the mobile terminal10 a has received a packet) (step S211). It should be noted thatactually, in step S211, the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or nota time a predetermined time (calculated taking into account the abovemeasurement error of time) shorter than CIa elapses since the previousconnection event.

If it is determined that the connection interval CIa elapses since theprevious connection event (step S211: YES), the BLE terminal 20 adetermines whether or not to skip a connection event in the connection A(step S212). Specifically, if “N” is equal to or greater than the slavelatency SLa, the determination of the BLE terminal 20 a is NO in stepS212. Here, “N” indicates the number of times the BLE terminal 20 askips a connection event (the number of connection events in which theBLE terminal 20 a does not successively transmit a response packet tothe mobile terminal 10 a). That is, if the number of times N the BLEterminal 20 a does not successively return a response packet to themobile terminal 10 a reaches the slave latency SLa, the BLE terminal 20a determines that the BLE terminal 20 a is to return a response packetto the mobile terminal 10 a in the current connection event.

In addition, even if “N” is less than the slave latency SLa, thedetermination of the BLE terminal 20 a may be NO in step S212. Forexample, if a response is to be transmitted to the mobile terminal 10 ato adjust the parent-to-child connection shown in FIGS. 11 and 16 beforethe slave latency SLa is reached, the determination of the BLE terminal20 a is NO in step S212. Also if there is data to be transmitted to themobile terminal 10 a, the determination of the BLE terminal 20 a is NOin step S212. It should be noted that in the process of step S212,first, the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or not there is data tobe transmitted (application data or data for adjusting a parent-to-childconnection shown in FIG. 11 or the like). If the result of thedetermination is NO, the BLE terminal 20 a may determine whether or notN is equal to or greater than SLa. That is, if there is data to betransmitted to the mobile terminal 10 a, then to transmit a responsepacket including the data to be transmitted to the mobile terminal 10 ain the current connection event, the determination of the BLE terminal20 a may be NO in step S212. Even if there is no data to be transmittedto the mobile terminal 10 a, but if N is equal to or greater than SLa,then to transmit an empty response packet, the determination may be NOin step S212.

If the determination is NO in step S212, the BLE terminal 20 a receivesa packet from the mobile terminal 10 a using any of the data channels 0to 36 (step S213). Subsequently, the BLE terminal 20 a transmits aresponse packet to the mobile terminal 10 a using any of the datachannels 0 to 36 (step S214). In step S214, if there is application datato be transmitted to the mobile terminal 10 a, the BLE terminal 20 atransmits a packet including this data.

Next, the BLE terminal 20 a processes received data (step S215). In theprocess of step S215, if predetermined data is received from the mobileterminal 10 a, the BLE communication module of the BLE terminal 20 atransfers the received data to the application. Then, the BLE terminal20 a sets the variable N to “0” (step S216) and returns to step S210again.

It should be noted that the process of the above step S213 may beperformed before the process of step S212. That is, if the timing of aconnection event arrives, the BLE terminal 20 a may receive a datapacket from the mobile terminal 10 a (step S213) and next in step S212,may determine whether or not to skip the current connection event. Forexample, in step S213, the BLE terminal 20 a receives a data packet fromthe mobile terminal 10 a, and next, performs the process of step S212.In the process of step S212, as described above, the BLE terminal 20 adetermines whether or not there is data (application data or the like)to be transmitted to the mobile terminal 10 a, and determines whether ornot N is equal to or greater than SL. Then, based on the results of thedeterminations, the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or not to skipthe current connection event.

If, on the other hand, the determination is YES in step S212, that is,if it is determined that the current connection event is to be skipped,the BLE terminal 20 a adds 1 to “N” (step S217) and performs the processof step S218 next.

If the determination is NO in step S211, or if step S217 is executed,the BLE terminal 20 a performs a BLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminalcommunication process (step S218). The BLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminalcommunication process in step S218 is executed during a connectioninterval in the connection A with the mobile terminal 10 a (NO in S211),or executed if it is determined that a connection event in theconnection A is to be skipped (YES in S212). TheBLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminal communication process is a process for, inthe state where the BLE terminal 20 a is connected to the mobileterminal 10 a, performing communication (child-to-child communication)with the BLE terminal 20 b. The BLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminalcommunication process is executed without even an instruction from themobile terminal 10 a. It should be noted that the setting of whether ornot to perform the BLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminal communication processmay be made based on a command from the mobile terminal 10 a. Adescription is given below of the details of theBLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminal communication process in step S218.

It should be noted that during the execution of the processing in FIG.20, the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or not the time elapsedsince the BLE terminal 20 a has previously communicated with the mobileterminal 10 a is equal to or greater than the connection supervisiontimeout. For example, the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or notthe time elapsed since the BLE terminal 20 a has previously received apacket from the mobile terminal 10 a is equal to or greater than theconnection supervision timeout. Alternatively, the BLE terminal 20 a maydetermine whether or not the time elapsed since the BLE terminal 20 ahas previously transmitted a response packet to the mobile terminal 10 ais equal to or greater than the connection supervision timeout. Then, ifthe time elapsed since the previous communication with the mobileterminal 10 a is equal to or greater than the connection supervisiontimeout, the BLE terminal 20 a terminates the connection with the mobileterminal 10 a and transitions from the connection state to anon-connection state, and the processing in FIG. 20 ends. The connectionsupervision timeout is determined by the mobile terminal 10 a when theconnection is established, and the mobile terminal 10 a notifies the BLEterminal 20 a of the determined connection supervision timeout.

A description is given below of the details of theBLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminal communication process in step S218.

(BLE-Terminal-to-BLE-Terminal Communication Process)

FIG. 21 is a detailed flow chart of the BLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminalcommunication process in step S218. In FIG. 21, an example is describedwhere the BLE terminal 20 a in the state of being connected to themobile terminal 10 a communicates with the BLE terminal 20 b.

As shown in FIG. 21, the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or not thetiming for executing advertising arrives (step S231). For example,certain timing may be set as the timing for executing advertising, or asshown in FIG. 9, the timing for executing advertising may be randomlydetermined. Alternatively, as described with reference to FIG. 10, basedon an advertising packet received from another device, the timing forexecuting advertising may be determined.

If it is determined that the timing for executing advertising arrives(step S231: YES), the BLE terminal 20 a performs advertising (stepS232). Specifically, in step S232, the BLE terminal 20 a transmits aplurality of advertising packets while switching between the threeadvertising channels 37 to 39.

For example, to communicate with the BLE terminal 20 b withoutestablishing a connection with the BLE terminal 20 b, the BLE terminal20 a sets “ADV_NONCONN_IND” as the type of an advertising packet andtransmits the packet including application data by broadcast. If thesize of application data exceeds the size of data that can betransmitted by a single advertising packet, the BLE terminal 20 adivides the application data and separately transmits the pieces ofdivided application data in a plurality of advertising packets. In thiscase, the BLE terminal 20 a transmits information indicating at whichposition (place in order) in the application data each piece of divideddata is located, by including the information in each advertisingpacket. For example, if the application data is 75 octet, the BLEterminal 20 a divides the application data into three parts, each ofwhich has 25 octet of divided data. These three pieces of divided dataare defined as no. 1, no. 2, and no. 3 in order starting from thebeginning piece of data, and transmitted in this order. It should benoted that in view of the possibility that data cannot be received atthe receiving end, the three pieces of divided data may be transmittedrepeatedly (multiple times). Specifically, the BLE terminal 20 atransmits a single advertising packet including the first piece ofdivided data (the first one-third part of the application data) and thesequence number (no. 1). Next, the BLE terminal 20 transmits a singleadvertising packet including the second piece of divided data (themiddle one-third part of the application data) and the sequence number(no. 2). Then, the BLE terminal 20 a transmits a single advertisingpacket including the third piece of divided data (the last one-thirdpart of the application data) and the sequence number (no. 3). The BLEterminal 20 b receives these three advertising packets and arranges thepieces of divided data in accordance with the sequence numbers, andthereby can reconstruct the application data transmitted from the BLEterminal 20 a. It should be noted that the BLE terminal 20 a maytransmit an advertising packet indicating that a scan request ispossible (“ADV_SCAN_IND”). In this case, the BLE terminal 20 b havingreceived the advertising packet transmits a scan request, and inaccordance with the scan request, the BLE terminal 20 a transmits a scanresponse. The BLE terminal 20 a can further include data in this scanresponse. Consequently, the BLE terminal 20 a transmits a singleadvertising packet, and thereby can further transmit a scan response.Thus, it is possible to transmit more data to the BLE terminal 20 b.

In addition, to communicate with the BLE terminal 20 b by establishing aconnection with the BLE terminal 20 b, then in step S232, the BLEterminal 20 a sets “ADV_IND” as the type of an advertising packet andtransmits the advertising packet by broadcast. In this case, if the BLEterminal 20 b that is executing a scan receives the advertising packetfrom the BLE terminal 20 a, the BLE terminal 20 b transmits a connectionrequest to the BLE terminal 20 a. Consequently, a connection isestablished between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b.

It should be noted that the advertising packet transmitted in step S232may include timing information (information indicating the timing ofadvertising and/or a scan to be executed next time or later) describedwith reference to FIG. 10. Further, the advertising packet may includeinformation of the timing Ta2 described with reference to FIG. 11. Asdescribed above, based on the reception of the above pieces ofinformation, the BLE terminal 20 b adjusts the timing of advertising tobe executed next time or later or the timing of a scan to be executednext time or later. This makes it possible to acquire a targetadvertising packet (for example, an advertising packet according to asequence number that has not yet been acquired) in a shorter time.

If the determination is NO in step S231, or if the process of step S232is performed, the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or not the timingfor executing a scan arrives (step S233). For example, certain timingmay be set as the timing for executing a scan, or as shown in FIG. 9,the timing for executing a scan may be randomly determined. Further, asdescribed with reference to FIG. 10, based on timing informationincluded in an advertising packet received from another device, thetiming for executing a scan may be determined.

If it is determined that the timing for executing a scan arrives (stepS233: YES), the BLE terminal 20 a performs a scan (step S234). Forexample, in step S234, the BLE terminal 20 a receives an advertisingpacket from the BLE terminal 20 b. The subsequent operation of the BLEterminal 20 a varies depending on the type of the advertising packetfrom the BLE terminal 20 b.

For example, if the type of the advertising packet received from the BLEterminal 20 b is “ADV_IND”, that is, if it is possible to connect to theBLE terminal 20 b (step S235: YES), the BLE terminal 20 a performs aconnection process (step S236). The connection process in step S236 issimilar to the processes of steps S105 and S106 in FIG. 17. That is, theBLE terminal 20 a transmits a connection request to the BLE terminal 20b and receives from the BLE terminal 20 b a response to the connectionrequest, thereby establishing a connection C with the BLE terminal 20 b.At this time, the BLE terminal 20 a becomes a central (a master), andthe BLE terminal 20 b becomes a peripheral (a slave). Further, in stepS236, the BLE terminal 20 a determines parameters (an access address,the connection interval CIc, the slave latency SLc, the number of hops,the connection supervision timeout, and the like) regarding theconnection C between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b andnotifies the BLE terminal 20 b of the parameters.

If, on the other hand, for example, the type of the advertising packetreceived from the BLE terminal 20 b is “ADV_NONCONN_IND”, thedetermination of the BLE terminal 20 a is NO in step S235. That is,“ADV_NONCONN_IND” indicates non-connection advertising, and therefore,the BLE terminal 20 a acquires data included in the advertising packet(step S237). This advertising packet may include data (for example,application data) transmitted from the BLE terminal 20 b to anunspecified device, and the BLE terminal 20 a acquires the data includedin the advertising packet. If this data is pieces of divided applicationdata, then as described above, the BLE terminal 20 a reconstructsapplication data based on sequence numbers included in the advertisingpacket.

It should be noted that the advertising packet received in step S234 mayinclude timing information (information indicating the timing ofadvertising and/or a scan to be executed next time or later) describedwith reference to FIG. 10. Further, the advertising packet may alsoinclude information of the timing Tb shown in FIG. 11 (the timing whenthe BLE terminal 20 b transmits a response packet to the mobile terminal10 b). As described above, based on the reception of the above pieces ofinformation, the BLE terminal 20 a adjusts the timing of advertising tobe executed next time or later or the timing of a scan to be executednext time or later.

The advertising in the above step S232 and the scan in the above stepS234 are repeatedly performed, whereby even in the state where the BLEterminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b are not connected together, thetwo devices can transmit and receive data to and from each other.Further, the advertising in step S232 and the scan in step S234 arerepeatedly performed, whereby it is possible to establish a connectionbetween the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b.

Whether the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b establish aconnection with each other and communicate with each other, orcommunicate with each other without establishing a connection with eachother is determined based on, for example, a request from anapplication. For example, if it is necessary to certainly transmit andreceive data, the BLE terminal 20 a sets “ADV_IND” as the type of anadvertising packet. Further, if it is necessary to simultaneouslytransmit data to a plurality of devices, the BLE terminal 20 a sets“ADV_NONCONN_IND” as the type of an advertising packet and transmits theadvertising packet.

If the process of step S236 is executed, or if the process of step S237is executed, or if the determination is NO in step S233, the BLEterminal 20 a executes the process of step S238.

In step S238, the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or not the BLEterminal 20 a is in the state of being connected to the BLE terminal 20b. If, as a result of repeatedly performing the advertising in the abovestep S232 and the scan in the above step S234, the BLE terminal 20 a andthe BLE terminal 20 b are in the state of being connected together, theBLE terminal 20 a performs aduring-BLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminal-connection process (step S239).

The during-BLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminal-connection process in step S239is a process performed when the BLE terminal 20 a is in the state ofbeing connected to the mobile terminal 10 a (the connection A in FIG.15) and also in the state of being connected to the BLE terminal 20 b(the connection C in FIG. 15). A description is given below of thedetails of the during-BLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminal-connection process instep S239.

(During-BLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminal-connection process By BLE Terminal20 a) FIG. 22 is a detailed flow chart of theduring-BLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminal-connection process in step S239, andis a diagram showing the processing performed by the BLE terminal 20 a,which operates as a central (a master).

FIG. 22 is based on the premise that the mobile terminal 10 a and theBLE terminal 20 a are in the state of being connected together, and asparameters for the connection A, the connection interval CIa and theslave latency SLa are set. Further, it is assumed that the BLE terminal20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b are in the state of being connectedtogether, and as parameters for the connection C, the connectioninterval CIc and the slave latency SLc are set.

As shown in FIG. 22, based on a time counter, the BLE terminal 20 adetermines whether or not the connection interval CIc elapses (stepS241). Specifically, the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or not CIcelapses since the timing of the previous connection event in theconnection C between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b. Itshould be noted that the BLE terminal 20 a may set a time counter foreach connection, or may determine the timing for executing a connectionevent in each connection, using a common time counter. That is, the timecounter for the connection A between the mobile terminal 10 a and theBLE terminal 20 a (the time counter for use in the determination in stepS211 in FIG. 20) and the time counter for the connection C between theBLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b (the time counter for use inthe determination in step S241) may be different from each other, or maybe the same as each other.

If it is determined that the connection interval CIc does not elapse(step S241: NO), the BLE terminal 20 a ends the processing shown in FIG.22.

If it is determined that the connection interval CIc elapses (step S241:YES), the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or not communicationbetween the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b is to berestricted (step S242). Specifically, if it is necessary to communicatewith the mobile terminal 10 a in a predetermined time from the currentmoment, the BLE terminal 20 a determines that communication between theBLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b is to be restricted. Thatis, if the slave latency SLa in the connection A between the mobileterminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a is to be exceeded unless the BLEterminal 20 a transmits a response to the mobile terminal 10 a in apredetermined time from the current moment, the BLE terminal 20 arestricts communication with the BLE terminal 20 b. Specifically, if thevalue of “N” is equal to or greater than the slave latency SLa, the BLEterminal 20 a determines that communication between the BLE terminal 20a and the BLE terminal 20 b is to be restricted.

If it is determined that communication between the BLE terminal 20 a andthe BLE terminal 20 b is to be restricted (step S242: YES), the BLEterminal 20 a changes the connection interval CIc (step S243).Specifically, the BLE terminal 20 a changes CIc to a value (CIc2)greater than the currently set value so that a connection event to occurnext in the connection C between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLEterminal 20 b does not temporally overlap a connection event in theconnection A between the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a(see FIG. 15).

If the process of step S243 is executed, or if the determination is NOin step S242, the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or not there istransmission data (for example, application data) to be transmitted tothe BLE terminal 20 b (step S244). If there is transmission data (stepS244: YES), the BLE terminal 20 a includes the transmission data in apacket (step S245).

If the process of step S245 is executed, or if the determination is NOin step S244, the BLE terminal 20 a transmits a packet to the BLEterminal 20 b, using a data channel (step S246). If the process of stepS245 is performed, the payload of the packet includes transmission data.If the process of step S245 is not performed, the payload of the packetdoes not include transmission data. It should be noted that if CIc ischanged to CIc2 in step S243, information about CIc2 after the change isincluded in the packet. Consequently, the next connection event in theconnection C between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 boccurs after the lapse of CIc2.

It should be noted that CIc2 after the change is changed back to CIcafter a connection event between the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLEterminal 20 a ends. In a connection event to occur in the connection Cbetween the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b after theconnection event between the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal20 a ends, the BLE terminal 20 a transmits information about CIc to theBLE terminal 20 b (see FIG. 15).

The processes of steps S242 to S246 are performed, whereby as shown inFIG. 15, it is possible to restrict communication between the BLEterminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b while the communication betweenthe mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a is performed.

After step S246, the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or not aresponse packet is received from the BLE terminal 20 b (step S247). If aresponse packet is received from the BLE terminal 20 b (step S247: YES),the BLE terminal 20 a processes received data (step S248). In step S248,for example, (the BLE communication module of) the BLE terminal 20 btransfers the received data to an application layer. Then, the BLEterminal 20 a sets a variable M to “0” and also resets a variable “S”(step S249), and then ends the processing shown in FIG. 22. “M”indicates the number of connection events in which a response packet isnot received from the BLE terminal 20 b in the connection C between theBLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b. Further, “S” is a variableindicating the time elapsed since the BLE terminal 20 a has received aresponse packet from the BLE terminal 20 b. Using the variable “S”, theBLE terminal 20 a determines whether or not to terminate the connectionwith the BLE terminal 20 b. For example, a number may be added to “S” inaccordance with the lapse of time, or 1 may be added to “S” every timethe process of step S241 is performed.

If, on the other hand, a response packet is not received from the BLEterminal 20 b (step S247: NO), the BLE terminal 20 a adds 1 to “M” (stepS250). Next, the BLE terminal 20 a determines whether or not “S” isequal to or greater than the connection supervision timeout in theconnection C (step S251). If it is determined that “S” is equal to orgreater than the connection supervision timeout (step S251: YES), theBLE terminal 20 a terminates the connection C with the BLE terminal 20 b(step S252) and ends the processing shown in FIG. 22. If it is notdetermined that “S” is equal to or greater than the connectionsupervision timeout (step S251: NO), the BLE terminal 20 a ends theprocessing shown in FIG. 22 without performing the process of step S252(without terminating the connection C).

(During-BLE-Terminal-to-BLE-Terminal-Connection Process by BLE Terminal20 b) FIG. 23 is a detailed flow chart of theduring-BLE-terminal-to-BLE-terminal-connection process in step S239, andis a diagram showing the processing performed by the BLE terminal 20 b,which operates as a peripheral (a slave).

FIG. 23 is based on the premise that the mobile terminal 10 b and theBLE terminal 20 b are in the state of being connected together, and asparameters for the connection B, the connection interval CIb and theslave latency SLb are set. Further, it is assumed that the BLE terminal20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b are in the state of being connectedtogether, and as parameters for the connection C, the connectioninterval CIc and the slave latency SLc are set.

As shown in FIG. 23, based on a time counter, the BLE terminal 20 bdetermines whether or not the connection interval CIc elapses (stepS261). Specifically, the BLE terminal 20 b determines whether or not CIcelapses since the timing of the previous connection event in theconnection C between the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b. Itshould be noted that the BLE terminal 20 b may set a time counter foreach connection, or may set a common time counter.

If it is determined that the connection interval CIc does not elapse(step S261: NO), the BLE terminal 20 b ends the processing shown in FIG.23.

If it is determined that the connection interval CIc elapses (step S261:YES), the BLE terminal 20 b determines whether or not communicationbetween the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b is to berestricted (step S262). Specifically, if it is necessary to communicatewith the mobile terminal 10 b in a predetermined time from the currentmoment, the BLE terminal 20 b determines that communication between theBLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b is to be restricted. Thatis, if the slave latency SLb in the connection B between the mobileterminal 10 b and the BLE terminal 20 b is to be exceeded unless the BLEterminal 20 b transmits a response to the mobile terminal 10 b in apredetermined time from the current moment, the BLE terminal 20 brestricts the communication with the BLE terminal 20 a.

If it is determined that communication between the BLE terminal 20 a andthe BLE terminal 20 b is to be restricted (step S262: YES), the BLEterminal 20 b determines whether or not a variable “M” is equal to orgreater than the slave latency SLc (step S263). “M” indicates the numberof times the BLE terminal 20 b does not transmit a response packet(skips a connection event) in a connection event in the connection Cbetween the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b. If it isdetermined that “M” is equal to or greater than the slave latency SLc(step S263: YES), the processing proceeds to step S264. If, on the otherhand, it is determined that “M” is less than the slave latency SLc (stepS263: NO), the BLE terminal 20 b ends the processing in FIG. 23.

If the determination is NO in step S262, or if the determination is YESin step S263, the BLE terminal 20 b determines whether or not aconnection event in the connection C with the BLE terminal 20 a is to beskipped.

As is clear from the processes of steps S262 and S263, the BLE terminal20 b restricts communication with the BLE terminal 20 a to give priorityto the communication with the mobile terminal 10 b. Specifically, theBLE terminal 20 b restricts communication with the BLE terminal 20 a(that is, skips a connection event in the connection C) so that thecommunication with the mobile terminal 10 b is performed in the range ofthe slave latency SLb. If, however, the slave latency SLc in theconnection C with the BLE terminal 20 a is to be exceeded unless aresponse is transmitted to the BLE terminal 20 a in the currentconnection event (step S263: YES), the BLE terminal 20 b does notrestrict communication with the BLE terminal 20 a, and the processingproceeds to step S264. This enables the BLE terminal 20 b to avoid therisk of terminating the connection C with the BLE terminal 20 a, whilegiving priority to the communication with the mobile terminal 10 b.

In step S264, the BLE terminal 20 b determines whether or not thecurrent connection event in the connection C is to be skipped.

If the determination is NO in step S264, then similarly to steps S214 toS216 in FIG. 20, the BLE terminal 20 b executes a connection event inthe connection C. Specifically, the BLE terminal 20 b receives a packetfrom the BLE terminal 20 a using a data channel (step S265), and inaccordance with the reception of the packet, transmits a response to theBLE terminal 20 a (step S266). This response may include a request tochange SLc. Then, the BLE terminal 20 b processes data from the BLEterminal 20 a (step S267), sets the variable M to “0” (step S268), andends the processing shown in FIG. 23.

If, on the other hand, the determination is YES in step S264, the BLEterminal 20 b adds 1 to “M” (step S269) and ends the processing shown inFIG. 23.

Here, if communication in one of the parent-to-child connection (theconnection B between the mobile terminal 10 b and the BLE terminal 20 b)and the child-to-child connection (the connection C between the BLEterminals 20) is restricted, and there is a risk of terminating theother connection, the BLE terminal 20 b gives priority to theparent-to-child connection. For example, if the value of “N” is equal tothe slave latency SLb, that is, if the number of times the BLE terminal20 b does not return a response packet to the mobile terminal 10 b isequal to the slave latency SLb, the determination of the BLE terminal 20b is YES in step S264. For example, even if the determination is YES instep S263, the determination of the BLE terminal 20 b is YES in stepS264 (in this case, M>SLc, and therefore, the risk of terminating thechild-to-child connection C is high). That is, to avoid the risk ofterminating the parent-to-child connection B, the BLE terminal 20 brestricts communication in the child-to-child connection C.

As described above, in the exemplary embodiment, priority is given to aparent-to-child connection over a child-to-child connection. This makesit possible to avoid the risk of terminating the parent-to-childconnection even if children are connected together during theparent-to-child connection. It should be noted that in another exemplaryembodiment, priority may be given to a child-to-child connection over aparent-to-child connection. Alternatively, in accordance with the stateof the current communication, it may be determined whether to givepriority to a parent-to-child connection or give priority to achild-to-child connection. For example, if the amount of communicationof a child-to-child connection is greater than the amount ofcommunication of a parent-to-child connection, priority may be given tothe child-to-child connection.

It should be noted that during the execution of the processing in FIG.23, the BLE terminal 20 b determines whether or not the time elapsedsince the BLE terminal 20 b has previously communicated with the BLEterminal 20 a is equal to or greater than the connection supervisiontimeout. For example, the BLE terminal 20 b determines whether or notthe time elapsed since the BLE terminal 20 b has previously received apacket from the BLE terminal 20 a is equal to or greater than theconnection supervision timeout. Alternatively, the BLE terminal 20 b maydetermine whether or not the time elapsed since the BLE terminal 20 bhas previously transmitted a response packet to the BLE terminal 20 a isequal to or greater than the connection supervision timeout. Then, ifthe time elapsed since the BLE terminal 20 b has previously communicatedwith the BLE terminal 20 a is equal to or greater than the connectionsupervision timeout, the BLE terminal 20 b terminates the connectionwith the BLE terminal 20 a and transitions from the connection state toa non-connection state, and the processing in FIG. 23 ends. Thisconnection supervision timeout is determined by the BLE terminal 20 awhen the connection is established, and the BLE terminal 20 a notifiesthe BLE terminal 20 b of the determined connection supervision timeout.

As described above, in the exemplary embodiment, the BLE terminal 20 ain the state of being connected to the mobile terminal 10 a (a parent)communicates with the BLE terminal 20 b (a child) in the state of beingconnected to the mobile terminal 10 b. That is, the BLE terminal 20 aparticipating as a slave in a certain network communicates with the BLEterminal 20 b participating as a slave in another network. Specifically,the BLE terminal 20 a in the state of not being connected to the BLEterminal 20 b transmits and receives an advertising packet by broadcast(broadcast to an unlimited unspecified device or a limited unspecifieddevice), thereby communicating with the BLE terminal 20 b. Further, theBLE terminal 20 a establishes a connection with the BLE terminal 20 band communicates with the BLE terminal 20 b in a connection state.

In addition, in the exemplary embodiment, child-to-child communicationis controlled to maintain parent-to-child connection. That is, at thetiming when communication for maintaining a parent-to-child connection(a parent-to-child connection event) occurs, a child preferentiallyperforms parent-to-child communication without performing child-to-childcommunication. For example, if the timing of communication formaintaining a parent-to-child connection and the timing ofchild-to-child communication coincide with each other, the BLE terminal20 restricts the child-to-child communication (does not perform thechild-to-child communication) and preferentially performs theparent-to-child communication. Further, during a predetermined periodincluding the timing for performing communication for maintaining aparent-to-child connection, the BLE terminal 20 may restrictchild-to-child communication.

In addition, the BLE terminal 20 adjusts the timing of communication formaintaining a parent-to-child connection to improve the efficiency ofchild-to-child communication. Specifically, the timing of communicationfor maintaining the connection A between the mobile terminal 10 a andthe BLE terminal 20 a and the timing of communication for maintainingthe connection B between the mobile terminal 10 b and the BLE terminal20 b are adjusted to be close to each other. Such adjustment is made,thereby enabling the BLE terminals 20 as children to efficientlycommunicate with each other in the state where the parent-to-childconnections are maintained.

In child-to-child communication, application data is transmitted andreceived. The application data may be, for example, data for use in agame, such as a game character and an item (actual data of the characterand the item, or data representing IDs), a game name, a game ID, or thelike. Further, data for use in an application may be text data, imagedata, moving image data, sound data, data for advertisement, or the likethat is reproduced in the application. Further, the application data maybe position information (GPS information) of the BLE terminal 20, outputinformation from a sensor (for example, an inertial sensor such as anacceleration sensor or an angular velocity sensor, a temperature sensor,a humidity sensor, a sensor capable of acquiring biological informationof a human body, such as blood pressure and pulse, or the like), or thelike that is provided in the BLE terminal 20. Based on the applicationdata received in the child-to-child communication, the BLE terminal 20may perform predetermined processing. Alternatively, the receivedapplication data may be transmitted to the mobile terminal 10, and themobile terminal 10 may perform predetermined processing based on thisdata.

It should be noted that the processes of all the steps in the above flowcharts are merely illustrative. Thus, the processing order of the stepsmay be changed, or not all the processes of the steps may be executed.Alternatively, another type of processing may be added to the processingin the above flow charts.

In addition, in the exemplary embodiment, it is assumed that each deviceperforms communication based on the BLE standard. Alternatively,communication based not only on BLE but also on classic Bluetooth may beperformed. Yet alternatively, communication based on another standard(for example, IEEE 802.11 series or the like) may be performed. Yetalternatively, communication based on any other standard may beperformed. It should be noted that in communication based on the BLEstandard, in a connection state, two devices communicate with each otherusing a common access address generated when the connection isestablished. In communication based on another standard, for example, ina connection state after a connection is established, communication isperformed using device-specific addresses. That is, at the transmittingend, the address of the device at the receiving end is specified, and apacket is transmitted (unicast).

In addition, in the exemplary embodiment, parent-to-child communicationis performed in priority to child-to-child communication. Alternatively,in another exemplary embodiment, child-to-child communication may beperformed in priority to parent-to-child communication. For example, acase is assumed where, if the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal20 a are in the state of being always connected together, the BLEterminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b are located for a certain periodin the range where communication can be performed. For example, a caseis possible where, if a user A, who carries the mobile terminal 10 a andthe BLE terminal 20 a with themselves, moves, and a user B, who carriesthe mobile terminal 10 b and the BLE terminal 20 b with themselves,moves, the user A and the user B pass each other. In this case, themobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a are always located at ashort distance from each other, and the mobile terminal 10 b and the BLEterminal 20 b are always located at a short distance from each other.Thus, the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLE terminal 20 a can alwayscommunicate with each other, and the mobile terminal 10 b and the BLEterminal 20 b can always communicate with each other. However, onlywhile the user A and the user B pass each other, the BLE terminal 20 aand the BLE terminal 20 b are located in the range where communicationcan be performed. Thus, in order for the BLE terminal 20 a and the BLEterminal 20 b to exchange data, it is necessary to exchange the data ina short period. In such a case, communication between children (the BLEterminal 20 a and the BLE terminal 20 b) may be performed in priority tocommunication between a parent and a child (the mobile terminal 10 a andthe BLE terminal 20 a, or the mobile terminal 10 b and the BLE terminal20 b). For example, children may communicate with each other withoutestablishing a connection with each other, or may establish a connectionwith each other and communicate with each other. Even if aparent-to-child connection event occurs while the child-to-childcommunication is performed, priority may be given to the child-to-childcommunication. Even if the period in which the parent-to-childcommunication is not performed exceeds the slave latency, priority maybe given to the child-to-child communication. That is, for example, evenif, in the connection between the mobile terminal 10 a and the BLEterminal 20 a, the slave latency in the connection with the mobileterminal 10 a is to be exceeded unless the BLE terminal 20 a returns aresponse to the mobile terminal 10 a, the BLE terminal 20 a maypreferentially communicate with the BLE terminal 20 b. In such a case,the parent-to-child connection can be resumed immediately after thechild-to-child communication is completed (after the user A and the userB move away from each other). As described above, even if the period inwhich communication is not performed exceeds the slave latency but isless than or equal to the connection supervision timeout, theparent-to-child connection is maintained. Further, for example, even if,after the communication with the BLE terminal 20 b is completed (thecommunication with the BLE terminal 20 b becomes impossible), theconnection with the mobile terminal 10 a is terminated by givingpriority to the communication with the BLE terminal 20 b, the BLEterminal 20 a transmits an advertising packet of which the type is“ADV_DIRECT_MD”, and thereby can rapidly establish a connection with themobile terminal 10 a. However, child-to-child communication can beperformed only while the user A and the user B pass each other, andtherefore, child-to-child communication may be performed in priority toparent-to-child communication.

Further, in the above exemplary embodiment, the connection interval CIcand the slave latency SLc in the child-child connection are changed,thereby restricting child-to-child communication, and parent-to-childcommunication is performed in the period in which child-to-childcommunication is restricted (FIG. 15). In another exemplary embodiment,for example, the connection supervision timeout may be changed inaddition to the connection interval and/or the slave latency.Alternatively, instead of the connection interval and/or the slavelatency, the connection supervision timeout may be changed. Theconnection supervision timeout in the child-child connection is changed(made longer than the current value) so that the child-child connectionis not terminated even if child-to-child communication is not performedfor a relatively long time, and parent-to-child communication may beperformed in the period in which child-to-child communication is notperformed.

Part or all of the processing described in the specification may beperformed by a CPU and/or another processor of a mobile terminal or aBLE terminal executing a communication program. Alternatively, part orall of the processing may be performed by an ASIC (Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit) included in a mobile terminal or a BLE terminal.

While certain example systems, methods, devices and apparatuses havebeen described herein, it is to be understood that the appended claimsare not to be limited to the systems, methods, devices and apparatusesdisclosed, but on the contrary, are intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless system including a plurality ofdevices capable of performing wireless communication, a first deviceamong the plurality of devices executing: acquiring a single piece ofapplication data for an application; wirelessly transmitting a broadcastor multicast packet; and wirelessly receiving a broadcast or multicastpacket from another device, the first device repeatedly executing thetransmitting and receiving; and in the transmitting, dividing theapplication data into a plurality of pieces, and separately transmittingeach piece of the divided application data in a respective one of aplurality of packets, the packets being transmitted via one of broadcastand multicast, wherein each of the packets respectively having one ofthe plurality of pieces of the divided application data furthercomprises respective first information, the respective first informationidentifying a part of the divided application data included in therespective one of the plurality of the packets as a respective one pieceof the plurality of pieces of divided application data, wherein in thetransmitting, the first device transmits timing information by includingthe timing information in at least one packet, the timing informationindicating timing of the transmitting or the receiving to be executednext time or later or the timing information indicating lengthinformation for executing the transmitting or the receiving to beexecute next time or later, the length information being a period oftime of transmitting or receiving.
 2. The wireless system of claim 1,wherein each packet transmitted by the first device includes the timinginformation.
 3. The wireless system of claim 1, wherein a first packettransmitted by the first device includes the timing information.
 4. Thewireless system of claim 1, wherein a second device receives the atleast one packet and adjusts a timing of receiving a packet ortransmitting a packet based on the timing indicated by the timinginformation.
 5. The wireless system of claim 4, wherein the seconddevice adjusts the timing of receiving or transmitting a packet tocoincide with the timing indicated by the timing information.
 6. Thewireless system of claim 2, wherein a second device receives the packetsand adjusts a timing of receiving a packet based on the timinginformation and whether the second device received the plurality ofpieces of divided application data.
 7. The wireless system of claim 6,wherein the second device determines whether the second device receiveda piece of the divided application data based on the respective firstinformation in each packet received and adjusts the timing of receivingpackets to coincide with transmission times for pieces of the divideddata not received indicated by the timing information.
 8. The wirelesssystem of claim 1, wherein a second device receives the at least onepacket and adjusts a period of time of receiving a packet ortransmitting a packet based on the length information indicated by thetiming information.
 9. The wireless system of claim 8, wherein thesecond device adjusts the period of time of receiving or transmitting apacket to coincide with the length information indicated by the timinginformation.
 10. The wireless system of claim 6, wherein the seconddevice determines whether the second device received a piece of thedivided application data based on the respective first information ineach packet received and adjusts the period of time of receiving packetsto coincide with the periods of time for transmission of pieces of thedivided data not received.